


"hoodie."

by bbjjunie



Category: K-pop, TOMORROW X TOGETHER | TXT (Korea Band)
Genre: Homophobia, M/M, Mentioned Bangtan Boys | BTS Member(s), Mentioned NCT 127 Ensemble, OT7 NCT Dream, Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, Stray kids OT9 - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:07:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 28
Words: 65,526
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23722819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bbjjunie/pseuds/bbjjunie
Summary: yeonjun just wants to borrow his ❪secret❫ boyfriend's hoodie without it being a big deal. is that too much to ask?|| 2020 © bbjjunie .completed
Relationships: Choi Soobin & Choi Yeonjun, Choi Soobin/Choi Yeonjun
Comments: 43
Kudos: 135





	1. ₁ | stan jay park, hate the sun

yeonjun ripped the earbuds out of his ears. he stood up on the bench and pointed at kai, bellowing, "alright, kai! give me one reason not to stan jay park!"

kai blinked at yeonjun, blinded by the glare of sun that cut across the elder's face. the rest of the group carried on eating. though yeonjun was the oldest, they all were used to him acting as if he was the youngest. "um-" he was cut off by yeonjun.

"exactly! there's not one!" he lowered himself down to his seat again and furiously stared over at soobin. "don't start with me!"

soobin tried to hide a smile as he poked at his lunch. "what?" he widened his eyes innocently. "what did you think i would say?"

taehyun shielded his eyes. "hyungs, i don't know about you guys, but i think we chose the worst spot on campus. the sun hurts my eyes." beomgyu shrugged, then looked at the other's reactions. he did not dare to speak up if the others did not.

kai huffed, pouting. "it's not my fault. yeonjunnie picked the spot today."

yeonjun glared at the complaining group. "hey, don't blame me! we would have had a good spot if someone hadn't been late today."

soobin ran his tongue over his teeth. "pfft. you promised to walk me to the lunch room. i still get lost, you know."

"didn't you go to orientation, hyung?" beomgyu angled his head to the side.

the group had all been forced, like the rest of the school, to attend the orientation over the vacation, since the boarding school had been remodeled.

soobin flushed nervously. "uh, yeah. but, um, see, my group didn't go over the route from my math class to the cafeteria."

his ears turned red. thank goodness, the rest of the group nodded their heads at the excuse and continued to chew at their lunches. only yeonjun met his panicked stare with his own matching one. see, he and yeonjun had been part of the same group that had taken a tour of the new school. but, after a summer vacation of forced closeness and lingering touches, their relationship had reached a new high in a janitor's closet after ditching the tour group.

kai looked up from his textbook. "soobin hyung, can you help me with this homework?" he shook his head. "i don't understand it."

soobin slid over and hovered closer to the curly-haired boy, igniting a fire in yeonjun's heart. he grabbed his phone and squeezed it tightly, trying to ignoring the rising blood pressure in his veins. he could not say anything-at least, not here in school.

taehyun slapped his backpack and huffed, covering his eyes. "this sun will be the death of me."

beomgyu laughed and playfully poked taehyun's shoulder. "why do you hate the sun so much?"

taehyun tsked. "it's not the sun, exactly. i'm tired of this annoying weather."

soobin pointed to the explanation in the textbook. "see, if you just follow the formula, it's easy."

"easy for you," kai scoffed. "you're telling me i have to memorize this whole thing if i want to score well?! that's insane!"

soobin shrugged. "hey, no one said math was easy to memorize. though it does get a little less burdening if you use them a lot."

kai let out a puff of air and pushed his textbook to the middle, annoyed.

taehyun lifted his half-eaten lunch into the air and belted out a frustrated, "hey!!"

soobin straightened up in his seat. with his tall height, he towered over the table and blocked out most of the sun. taehyun lowered his lunch and smiled. "soobin hyung, please stay like that for the rest of the lunch period."

soobin placed his hands on the table. "is the sun really that irritating to you guys?"

kai lowered his forehead onto his arms and mumbled, "is it not obvious, hyung?"

yeonjun joked, "at this rate, taehyun will tear out our throats if it's still sunny tomorrow."

"you don't joke about shit like that, yeonjun," taehyun groaned.

soobin mumbled, "my back is on fire. i'm sitting down."

"no," screeched kai, taehyun, and beomgyu. but soobin still sat down.

yeonjun proposed, "as the oldest, i suggest we eat under the tree tomorrow."

taehyun groaned. "first of all, the tree gets super crowded because everyone else is hiding from the sun too."

beomgyu huffed, "and besides, even though soobin hyung has long legs he walks super slow."

"i-!... well, i guess," soobin shrugged.

kai ventured a bright, "what if yeonjun hyung shows soobin hyung the way when the bell rings? then we could all hurry to the tree!"

yeonjun's eyes rested on soobin. the boy was a literal string bean. he was gigantically tall, but his face was chubby and added an endearing quality to him.

soobin sighed, his facial features pinching together in thought.

"but the bread line gets super long, and it's so far away from my class."

taehyun asked dubiously, "there's a line for bread? at school?"

soobin nodded. "it's near the school gardens."

yeonjun brightened. "hey! i have japanese before lunch! the language building is right by the gardens! i can get your bread for you, if you get me a lunch when you go."

soobin's eyes finally met yeonjun's, and he felt something click. his heart raced. could soobin feel it too?

soobin ventured, "sure. thanks, hyung." his ears reddened.

kai checked his phone and frowned. "lunch is going to end in two minutes!! ugh, my math class is next. i'm gonna die."

beomgyu rolled his eyes. "i have gym. i'd rather not run around the school like a pack of wildebeest."

taehyun patted beomgyu's shoulder. "relax, beommie. gym can't be that bad, i guess."

"you have gym, too?!" they high-fived in celebration of their misery.

yeonjun grumbled, "and i bet none of you have basketball after, huh?"

soobin shook his head. "nope. i have soccer."

kai scoffed. "no way. don't tell me all four of you are going to be in the locker room after lunch and i'm going to be stuck in math."

"aw, cheer up, kai," beomgyu gushed. "tae and i are going to be dying in the sun; hyungs are also going to be sweating in it too, while you sit in a nice, air-conditioned classroom."

kai agreed. "it does sound better... NO! you guys are going to be bonding and stuff... i'm going to be alone..." he pouted, crossing his arms. "and, even worse, doing math."

soobin snapped open his sixth box of almond milk and insisted, "look at it this way, kai. yeonjun hyung and i aren't even going to be on the same sports team. there's doubt we'd even see each other after lunch at all. and gyu and tae ssi are going to soon be wishing they were stuck in math. there's no time for bonding when you're sweating out your desperation." he stuffed the straw into the box and sipped, a smirk on his face.

"aw, thanks a lot, hyung," taehyun huffed. "now i'm annoyed that i have gym."

beomgyu put a hand on his chest. "you're not even happy to have it with me?!"

the bell chimed from the loudspeakers, setting off a groan from the three youngest. soobin picked up his lunch tray while the almond milk dangled precariously from the straw his teeth had closed around. kai dumped his sandwich and brownie wrappers into the can with a huff. beomgyu dropped the paper bag of mcdonald's into the can, which had been both his and taehyun's lunch.

yeonjun shot his half-finished milkshake into the can, much like a basketball. he shook his head at the mcdonald's bag. "gyu, you and taehyun really need to start eating nutritious food." he poked taehyun on the nose. "you hardly eat anything, tae. and i don't want the only thing you eat to be mcdonald's."

beomgyu scratched his head. "it's just this time, hyung. it's not a big deal."

taehyun agreed, shrugging. "fine, we'll get some rice cakes tomorrow."

yeonjun shook his head again. "unacceptable. i'm cooking you guys tteokbeokki and bringing it to you tomorrow."

"that's still rice cakes," taehyun pointed out with a grin.

kai huffed. "no one offers me rice cakes."

"aw, kai," soobin ruffled the younger boy's hair. "i'll bring you an extra slice of pizza from the cafeteria."

kai smiled and wrapped his arms around soobin. he chimed a cheerful, "thanks hyung!" and snaked up an arm to poke one of soobin's dimples.

yeonjun peeled kai away from soobin. "that's enough of you now. you're going to be late; the math building is very far away from here!"

kai agreed. "bye hyungs! don't have too much fun without me!" he ran off, shoulder bag and curly hair bouncing, until he blended in with the crowd.

yeonjun realized beomgyu and taehyun had left the slow hyungs behind. soobin flicked yeonjun's head. "seemed a little bit like jealousy there to me, junie."

yeonjun rubbed his head and frowned. "it was so not like that. kai was going to be late."

"mhm, sure," soobin grinned. when yeonjun's eyes met his, he sent him a casual wink.

yeonjun complained, "you're mean!"


	2. ₂ | gym with the hyungs

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> have some BTS i guess

"good afternoon, students," greeted one of the gym teachers. "my name is mr. byun. i'll be the one in charge of the sports people until we get you settled with your coaches. now, everyone that's enrolled in a sport, please separate from the regular gym class-"

yeonjun looked over at beomgyu and taehyun. they met his look with wide eyes.

"it's not too late to join a sport," soobin rushed quickly. yeonjun nodded.

beomgyu shook his head firmly. "sports are going to fuck up my schedule with dance. no way, i'm not going to have time for a sport."

taehyun agreed. "i'm not of the 'sport' type, so..."

the four said their goodbyes.

mr. byun said cheerfully, "good news! since you guys are going to be in sports, you get the big lockers in the back! follow me!"

yeonjun elbowed soobin. "this guy is way too cheerful; can he share whatever he's on?"

soobin held back a cackle, accidentally choking on the last of his almond milk as he did so. the box flew from his mouth, where the straw stayed, and smacked the back of the head of the boy in front of them.

the head slowly turned around. the other walking beside him also turned. even more terrifying, two more bodies also turned. the four of them halted yeonjun and soobin's progress.

yeonjun gulped nervously. soobin apologized profusely.

the first boy shrugged. his bangs reached his eyebrows and gave his head an appearance similar to that of a coconut. "'s okay, guys. as long as you didn't mess up my hair. name's jungkook. you are?"

"soobin choi," soobin blurted out.

"yeonjun," yeonjun introduced, having the grace of being able to hide his nervousness, unlike soobin.

"i'm taehyung!" the other said, a wide smile appearing on his face. there was a black bandanna covering the top half of his head of chestnut-brown hair, and he had long eyelashes.

soobin furrowed his eyebrows. "sorry, what? 'taehyun'? we know a taehyun, and you look so different."

"no, not 'taehyun'; i said 'taehyun𝘨'," he stressed the 'g' at the end.

jungkook motioned to the other two. "and these two are our friends, jimin and namjoon."

one was tiny, and the other was comically tall, just a little shorter than soobin the beanstalk.

the tall one sighed, a sage, old wiseness to his voice when he spoke, "jungkookie, we have to keep walking, or we'll miss the rule lecture."

the smaller one, having curiously bright pink hair, laughed, "as if any of us follow them, joonie!" he playfully hit namjoon on the shoulder. it was quite obvious they were close, very close.

the six of them entered the locker rooms, and the four elders convinced soobin and yeonjun to choose lockers near them, and away from the relentless chatter of everyone else.

mr. byun arrived at their lockers with a clipboard. "is uh, jungkook jeon here?"

the brown-haired boy nodded.

"namjoon kim?"

"present," the tall guy grinned, showing off deep dimples similar to soobin's.

"taehyung kim?"

the said boy adjusted his bandana before calling a deep "here".

"okay, and... jimin park?"

"here," said a tiny voice and a tiny hand waved in the air.

"okay, great," mr. byun nodded. he looked to yeonjun and soobin. "and you two are....?"

"soobin and yeonjun choi," soobin answered quickly.

mr. byun marked something on his clipboard. "okay! for now, we're just handling the basic things, but you'll be meeting with your sport coaches tomorrow, so be sure to bring your exercise wear."

the group nodded at his words.

"you'll be called up row by row to receive the locks for your lockers, so be ready," was the last thing he informed them before breezing away.

"yo, are you two siblings?" taehyung pointed to soobin and yeonjun in turn.

"funny, i was about to ask you and namjoon the same thing," yeonjun crossed his arms. "choi's a common last name, like kim or, park, for that matter, okay?"

"that's hyung to you," namjoon commented slyly.

soobin nudged yeonjun. "no need to get so defensive; it was an honest question."

jungkook leaned against his locker. "say, you two are friends? you'd want to be in the same sports, no?"

yeonjun frowned. "actually, i'm in basketball, and soobin's in soccer."

jungkook tsked. "you guys should pick both, maybe. soccer and basketball are in different seasons. you'll almost never see each other. besides, the soccer kids get hallowed here."

taehyung nodded. "kook and i are on the soccer team. joon hyung and jimin-" he pointed to each in turn "-are in volleyball. since they're in different seasons, we take turns cheering each other on."

soobin asked, "so, jungkook hyung, you're saying that i'd never get to see yeonjun hyung?"

jungkook squirmed a little. "yeah, i guess. when it's offseason, you literally just have a free period after lunch. but when that happens, yeonjun's going to be in basketball. so you'll just be bored with me and taetae hyung."

soobin fiddled nervously. "you sure seem... knowledgable about everything, hyung."

"yeah, no," jimin rolled his eyes. "we've dealt with this stuff every year. you guys are new, right? you don't look like first years though."

yeonjun insisted, "no! hyung, we are not first years. we are actually third years. we have three other friends who are second years, though."

"weird, we ain't never seen you guys before," namjoon frowned.

yeonjun explained, "hyungs, it's because we just got transferred here. soobin and i, our families, moved here. our three other friends moved over the summer, too."

"oh, see, that makes sense," jungkook nodded.

"row V!" mr. byun arrived and stood in front of them. he had several old combination locks in a basket which he carried.

"alright, the chois are first," he motioned, then handed soobin and yeonjun each a lock. with a pencil, he pointed at soobin and asked, "locker number?"

"1801," soobin supplied.

"your combination is '12 05 20'," mr. byun informed him. to yeonjun, he asked the same, and explained that his combination was '09 13 01'.

after giving the hyungs their combinations, he quickly spirited away.

jungkook shook his head. "after four years, i still don't know what he's on."

yeonjun sat down on the bench in between their locker rows, his eyes looking up to meet soobin's, full of a silent plea to get the younger boy to sit beside him.

soobin obliged, and a happy smile overtook yeonjun's face as they sat very close together, even though the bench was wide and full of space. it was not so easy for them to hide their feelings, especially since they were not aware...

not aware of the 'special criteria' the school had that forbid such relationships from blossoming.

jimin caught the eyes of his friends worriedly, signaling with his eyes over the two youngsters and their hyper-intimacy.

jungkook and taehyung shared a look and frowned deeply.


	3. ₃ | we back at it again

back in their dorms, kai was lounging across beomgyu's bed, taehyun was organizing the dirty laundry, and beomgyu was using his phone on taehyun's bed.

kai whined, "why are the hyungs not back yet?!"

taehyun yanked off his khakis and stood there in his boxers. "relax, kai. i'm sure yeonjun-hyung probably wanted to show soobin-hyung the way from his math class to the cafeteria, like we said they should do. they'll be back soon."

and yet, what was actually happening;

yeonjun's back was braced against the wall of the tiny janitor's closet, and his legs were tightened around soobin's waist. he had his hands gently intertwined behind soobin's head. his lips were busily pressed against the younger's.

soobin's thumbs were lightly caressing the smooth skin of the elder's belly, and he laughed as he pulled away for a second. "kai was right. you have a cute belly."

yeonjun half-heartedly smacked soobin and frowned with puffy lips, "ah? you agree that i am fat?!"

soobin shushed the elder, laughing. "he called me fat too, okay?!"

"it's different when you say it," yeonjun pouted. damn, he looked so attractive with reddened cheeks and puffy lips, a flutter started up in soobin's own belly. "now, let me go, or my fatass is going to _fall_."

soobin let the elder slide down to stand on his own feet, thinking their moment was over, but then yeonjun pinched soobin's cheeks, bringing him closer in for a last kiss.

soobin chuckled softly as they parted. his next words were sad though. "it's too bad we can't do this in public."

yeonjun sighed and brushed at the jacket of soobin's uniform. "that's true... but i'm glad jungkook-hyung and v-hyung warned us."

the group had been correct in guessing at the tension and longing looks between yeonjun and soobin. they were not quick to admit it, but when they did, taehyung and jungkook had informed them that they were dating, but the school didn't allow those kinds of relationships on campus.

namjoon had rolled his eyes. "figures. some loud-ass guy can be fucking a loud-ass girl in the room next to me when i'm studying, but jungkookie and taetae can't hug or kiss in front of faculty. it's an outright injustice."

jimin had stood up on the bench and screamed, "injustice!!!"

and after gym, yeonjun and soobin had realized they had health together. they had quickly scrambled to be partners in the back of the room, and sat so close to each other, though yeonjun had inched slowly closer to soobin with each passing minute. they had ended the period with yeonjun practically sitting in soobin's lap.

but, thankfully, no one had noticed. at least, they figured.

and that had led them to look for their familiar janitor's closet after the last bell had chimed, where they had been making out for the past half-hour.

and now, soobin's hands were tightly pressed to yeonjun's waist, and yeonjun had laced his hands together behind soobin's head again.

and, to just remember, they had started off the summer hating each other.

* * *

"oh, junie!" yeonjun's mother pointed to the suitcases by the luggage compartment. "could you help soobin pack those in? i'm going to go find your father."

yeonjun stared disdainfully at the taller, more awkward beanstalk he was going to spend the next month or so with, trapped in an rv.

he had thrown in the nearest suitcase to him and crossed his arms, huffing, "i can't believe our families are doing this. and worse, with each other."

soobin was quiet as he adjusted the suitcase yeonjun had haphazardly thrown in so that the others could fit.

he and yeonjun had known each other practically since they were babies, but they'd never actually gotten to know each other.

every time they'd seen each other, yeonjun was either listening to music or texting his sports friends. or, he'd go out with them, leaving soobin alone to the mercy of the four parents who gushed over his chubby face that would not lose fat no matter how skinny soobin himself got.

yeonjun placed an earbud in. soobin sighed. there he goes. at least maybe once his music played there would finally be silence.

soobin packed in the last suitcase and closed the compartment, his eyes sliding over to look at yeonjun.

the elder was leaning against the vehicle, only one earbud in, crossing his ankles. he was staring off in the distance. his fashion sense was pretty good, from what soobin knew about fashion, which was very little. yellow converse high-tops, blue jeans, and a yellow t-shirt. he had several piercings in his ears-

"i get it," yeonjun suddenly broke him from his trance. "boi, i may look like a work of art, but this one's pay-per-view."

soobin turned away, mentally kicking himself. had he seriously just been checking out yeonjun? damn, he must be desperate.

he unlocked his phone and checked the messages. 

**ningningkai** : mochi hyung~~! we're driving!! ^^  
 **ningningkai** : how annoying is yeonjun yet?  
 **ningningkai** : drive safe~~~~ <3

 **soobin-c** : what??? how did you know D:

 **ningningkai** : keke that was a joke  
 **ningningkai** : u should be happy 2 b w/ yeonjun!!

 **soobin-c** : why ㅠㅠ

 **ningningkai** : BECAUSE U LIKE HIM

 **soobin-c** : i do not! he's annoying!! he thinks i was checking him out!! D:<

 **ningningkai** : lmao u probably were  
 **ningningkai** : gotta go! taehyun's going to show me a magic trick ^^~ <3

meanwhile, yeonjun;

 **juniethefoodie** : yomg gyu

 **bam-gyu** : awomg wut

 **juniethefoodie** : remember that soobin kid i told u about

 **bam-gyu** : oh yeah y

 **juniethefoodie** : sjsksks boi he was totally checking me out rn  
 **juniethefoodie** : cREEPy much

 **bam-gyu** : r u sure he was checking u out or was it ur imagination again?

 **juniethefoodie** : wtf

 **bam-gyu** : i mean, last time u thought he was staring right at u, but he was actually staring at the bread in ur hands. hyuka confirms.

 **juniethefoodie** : who tf is hyuka- nvm, all of this is irrelevant, just like ur opinion  
 **juniethefoodie** : ok gtgggg the parents are getting cringey and forcing us to interact, no phone for like the whole trip ughhh byeee

yeonjun's father took his cellphone away, and soobin's mother had done the same for soobin. the four had announced that the trip would be electronic free.

yeonjun rolled his eyes. he murmured, "brb, gonna nap in the back of the rv until we get there."

soobin laughed lightly. yeonjun held back a nervous titter.

the parents all stayed in the front, where they talked about whatever kinds of things parents talk about, probably the weather.

yeonjun raced to the two beds in the back. "we only have two beds? how are we going to fit?"

soobin waltzed over to see what the ruckus was. he shrugged. "oh, hyung, i don't think we're all going to be sleeping at the same time."

soobin's mother, a quiet and tiny lady, came over to set a bag of things down on one of the beds. "you're right, soobin," she nodded, "the adults are going to take turns driving. only you and yeonjun might be sleeping all the time."

yeonjun flushed. "auntie, i don't sleep that often-"

"yes you do, choi yeonjun," she laughed, "your parents are always saying that." she saw soobin chuckling lightly and asked, "ah? soobin? don't laugh, because you sleep all day too!"

after she had left the small corner, the rv coughed and sputtered to a start. the whole vehicle shook itself to life, causing everyone to lose their balance for a second.

soobin, with a red face, had been pressed back-first to the bed below him, with a wide-eyed yeonjun above him. from soobin's perspective, the light filtered from the window hit yeonjun's earrings at the perfect angle, making them sparkle.

yeonjun's pink lips were also open with shock. his arms had latched themselves around the first stable object they could find, soobin, which had obviously not been a very stable choice. he had knocked the skinny younger over very easily.

the two stayed in that position for some time, their brains barely being able to confirm what had just happened. yeonjun reacted first, without thinking much, rolling off of soobin's body and landing with a powerful **_thud!_** onto the floor of the rv.

"oh-! hyung!" soobin pushed himself up to look over the edge of the bed.

yeonjun's mother called out, "boys! don't be messing around back there!"

yeonjun still had wide eyes, and was staring up at soobin's, who peeked out from the edge of the bed. he sat up and cleared his throat, pulling himself up and onto the second bed. yeonjun tried to calm down his racing heart and turned away from soobin, squeezing his sweaty hands together.

that had been _so_ awkward.

* * *

and now? things were so different, yet...

yeonjun held soobin's hand tightly for the last few seconds they could.

soobin edged open the door and looked around. "okay, coast clear, hyung," he turned back to face yeonjun and smiled softly. "can the dimples get a goodbye kiss?"

yeonjun pouted. "close. they can get a goodbye poke."

"i'll take it."

yeonjun lightly poked soobin's dimples, and broke out into a wide smile.

soobin chuckled, "wait like 10 seconds." he swiftly closed the door behind himself.

yeonjun's heart raced to be alone in such a tiny, humid room. he felt embarrassed. the room had become humid and sweaty after soobin and yeonjun had entered. he felt bad for the janitor.

_oh shit, wait. was that 10 seconds?_

yeonjun hesitated. _or, what if it hadn't been even close to that? would soobin get mad if he left early? or if it was later than 10 seconds? would he get mad? or, would someone see him?_

yeonjun was having an existential crisis. he swiped at his forehead. _holy shit_ , his sweat had matted his bangs to it.

 _man, fuck this shit_. yeonjun grabbed the doorknob and twisted it open. he quickly waltzed out confidently, closing the door behind himself.

thankfully, no one was in the north hall of the students' wing at the moment. yeonjun jogged down the hall, heart racing. would soobin have waited for him?

he found soobin in the mess hall. the younger's eyes were wide. yeonjun arrived next to him, face red and breathing hard.

soobin said distractedly, "i didn't know they had twisted bread after scho-" he cut himself off as his eyes painfully tore themselves away from the bread on display to notice the current state yeonjun was in.

yeonjun caught his breath and managed a sassy, "what," at soobin's stare.

the younger's ears flared red and he nervously clamped his lips together after licking them.

yeonjun felt a shiver run through his body and turned away, hoping no one else had seen. there was no straight explanation for what had just happened.

he mumbled, "binnie, remember what the hyungs said."

soobin blinked at forced himself to stare at the bread again, agreeing, "yes, i just... you... okay." he brushed his hair behind his ear for lack of anything to do. soobin really couldn't believe he'd chosen yeonjun over bread just now. kai would have killed to see it, probably.

after getting in line to buy soobin a twisted bread - which he did not share, but yeonjun didn't mind since he looked so adorable eating it - the two walked back to the dorm wing, arriving at their shared room.

yeonjun unlocked the door, heart racing. maybe they'd be able to be alone for some time if-

the door to taehyun and beomgyu's dorm swung open. kai stomped out. he asked angrily, crossing his arms, "and just _where_ have you two been?!"

beomgyu stuck his head out and agreed, "yeah, mind telling us, hyungs?"

only taehyun was oblivious to the tension between the two eldest, and he had not been on either side of the tale of yeonjun and soobin's summer tale.

so while the other two practically wore lenny faces, taehyun was just mildly worried. he stepped out behind kai and greeted them.

soobin spoke with his mouth full of bread, "o lok bwed."

yeonjun explained, laughing humorlessly, "i was eh, showing soobin the way from his math class to the cafeteria."

"and why did you guys take over an hour," kai narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

yeonjun pointed at the crumbs in soobin's hands. "they were selling twisted bread in the cafeteria. did you really think soobin would let us leave?"

beomgyu huffed. "regardless, hyungs, we have been waiting all this time after school to eat and we're so hungry and soobin hyung didn't even share-" he was cut off by the loud growling of his stomach.

yeonjun's "eldest hyung" instincts kicked in. he apologized, patting beomgyu on the back and lifting him up. "beommie, let's go get some pizza. how does that sound to you guys?"

everyone cheered, except soobin. his eyes were trained on yeonjun's hands, which had curled around beomgyu to comfort him.

yeonjun cleared his throat again. how could soobin be anymore obvious?

there was an annoyed frown on soobin's face as he met met yeonjun's annoyed eyes.

soobin called out, "yeonjun hyung is paying," and turned around again, leading the way.

"fucking bastard," yeonjun swore under his breath.

"what was that, hyung?" beomgyu eyed yeonjun with curiosity.

"nothing, let's get going."  
  


* * *

|| uwu


	4. ₄ | fight over uno, not pizza

"petty ass," yeonjun mumbled as soobin unlocked the door to their room.

soobin ignored his hyung and entered their dorm, yeonjun following.

inside, the motion-sensor lights flickered to life and revealed soobin pouring the last few drops of a cup of water into a flower pot.

yeonjun slammed the door shut and snagged the end of the curtain that separated their room, dragging it closed.

soobin rolled his eyes and dumped the paper cup into the garbage disposal.

at the pizzeria, soobin had made sure to put as many friends as he could between he and yeojun in the booth, which wasn't many.

and they'd been passive-aggressive to each other through the whole outing, which had been something the others had all picked up on.

even kai wasn't as excited to see the cheese pizza proudly displayed before him. in a way, they had all thought of soobin and yeonjun as parent-like figures, and seeing them be so annoyed with each other gave them the feeling as if their actual parents were fighting.

yeonjun snapped, "turn off the lights already."

"you gotta stop moving for that to happen," soobin yelled back, shaking his head. he scoffed and pulled off his uniform jacket, then unbuttoning his shirt. before kicking off his jeans, he roughly wrestled on a sleeveless shirt. his pajamas were completed with a pair of old sweats.

soobin dropped his weary body onto the mattress and sighed. this didn't feel right. why had they even been fighting in the first place?

his heart ached. in a way, it made him feel hurt at seeing how pressed yeonjun was to keep their relationship a secret, even in front of their friends.

it pissed soobin off. it wasn't like kai, taehyun, or even beomgyu, who was a strict rule-follower, would rat them out.

the more he thought about it, the more annoyed he got.

the lights snapped out. soobin fumed silently in the dark.

* * *

"you can't be serious."

"well, i am," said yeonjun's mother firmly, crossing her arms across her chest.

"just take the +4 card, honey," yeonjun's dad sighed, rubbing his temples.

"no! yeonjun choi, i mean it." she looked him dead in the eyes and threatened, "i'll cancel the apple music subscription."

"oH MY GOD, NO," yeonjun stood up quickly. "MOM! i have no other red cards, or number 3 cards!!"

soobin looked over at his own father. "even after so many years of this i still can't understand why they take uno so seriously."

soobin's father chuckled. "let them be."

yeonjun's father grinned wickedly. "aHA! i'M the one in charge of the subscriptions! so you can't cancel it!"

"can't you just forfeit," soobin whispered to yeonjun, missing the deep pink that flushed through the elder's face when he moved close.

yeonjun widened his eyes. "you! it was you that was against me this whole time! you're playing a dangerous game, soobin."

soobin raised his eyebrows. "me?! you're the sore loser!"

"take this!" yeonjun held out a yellow reverse card between them. "hA! now yOU'RE the sore loser!"

soobin's father stood up. "now, now, let's all just calm down-"

yeonjun's father pointed childishly, "you just want us to stop so you don't have to lose!"

a large argument exploded, however silly it was, until soobin's mother, the tiny and very shy young woman, waved her hands around. "qUIET!"

everyone was silenced. they all looked very afraid. soobin's mother hardly ever raised her voice.

"the uno cards are going to be put away now," she said calmly, gesturing around the table. "and we are going to go to bed before there are any more disputes, because we will be arriving tomorrow."

she looked pointedly at soobin's father, who smiled sheepishly, showing a single, deep dimple on one side of his face.

everyone did what she said, until soobin and yeonjun realized, that they were both growing boys. 

growing boys that did not fit on the twin-sized mattresses with their sleeping parents.

yeonjun ruffled his hair and asked his mother, "mom? where are soobin and i sleeping?"

soobin's father motioned down the hall. "there's the couch area. or you can sleep on the floor-"

"that's a fat no from me," yeonjun shook his head. "it's cold back there!"

yeonjun's mother dumped a blanket into his arms. "here you go, then. besides, it's summer. be glad you're not suffering in the heat."

soobin had gone to change into his sleepwear, and yeonjun, being yeonjun, was already bored after sitting around for two minutes. he proceeded to sit on the couch and balance the game boards on his limbs while he himself also balanced on the edge of the couch.

"what are you doing-"

yeonjun was startled by soobin's sudden question and jumped, which caused the games to fall.

"oh- uh..." yeonjun lowered himself from the couch and tried to pick up the games nervously, avoiding soobin's eye contact. he was sweating from anxiety, worried about what soobin now thought of him after catching yeonjun doing a stupid thing like that.

"so... are you going to sleep on the couch or the floor?" soobin's tone was even, which made yeonjun's anxiety skyrocket. was he holding back how weirded out he'd been?

yeonjun mumbled, "uh, the floor is super cold."

"the couch isn't any better."

"but it'll warm up with my body heat."

"okay," soobin shrugged, then proceeded to stand there and think. "i'll go get another blanket," he decided out loud as he noticed the one laid out on the couch by yeonjun.

but soobin later returned with a haunted look on his face.

"what?" yeonjun questioned. "what happened? you look like you saw a ghost."

soobin flushed nervously and avoiding the question, stepping over to turn off the light.

as the room was engulfed in darkness, yeonjun realized something. "hey, soobin?"

"mhm?"

"where's your blanket?"

no answer.

"binnie?"

"go to sleep, junie. i'm tired."

yeonjun sighed irritably. "why won't you just admit that i'm a terrible person and there's no blanket left for you?"

"boys, go to sleep," called a parent from farther down the hall.

yeonjun whispered, "binnie?"

"yeah," came the whisper back.

"do you want to use mine?"

"n-no," he stuttered, really quickly.

yeonjun realized he probably should not press the boy, since soobin was notorious for being overly shy and would probably feel threatened if yeonjun insisted.

later in the night, yeonjun opened his eyes, realizing that he'd fallen asleep.

his eyesight adjusted to the darkness, and he wondered what had woken him up.

his eyes had started to close again when he heard it. a shiver and the chattering of teeth.

yeonjun slid off the couch and kneeled down beside soobin's body. he tentatively touched the boy's face, and flinched. his skin was ice cold, and his body was curved into itself. the shivers had been uncontrollable and had started up while he was sleeping, evidently.

yeonjun shook his head and grabbed the blanket. "you dummy," he whispered, covering soobin with the blanket.

he'd woken up then.

"yeonjun, no-"

"you're gonna get sick and i'm gonna feel like the worst person in the whole world," yeonjun deadpanned, "now, cover yourself up and- hey! don't take it all, geez. leave some for me."

they started off laying on their backs, side by side. soobin shifted nervously.

yeonjun gasped. "ah! your feet are cold, stop!"

"sorry," soobin quickly apologized, moving farther away.

"hey, i didn't say to move away," yeonjun chuckled, sliding closer.

in this situation, yeonjun forgot soobin was too shy for his own good.

playfully, yeonjun wrapped his arms and legs around soobin and laughed, "you're not getting away!"

there was dead silence in the room and yeonjun noticed how soobin had tightened his muscles and frozen up.

"oh-" yeonjun started to let go, but then stopped. "are you okay with this? it's fine if you're not, i'll go back-"

"it's fine," soobin replied, and visibly relaxed in yeonjun's arms.

"o-okay," yeonjun stuttered out, and something clicked together in his head.

holy shit, beomgyu had been right.  
  
  


_"$5, i bet you hug or cuddle him at least once during the trip," he'd smiled smugly._

_"aight bet," yeonjun snorted. "i don't have a crush on him, i told you!"_

_"doesn't matter if you do or not," beomgyu shrugged. "you're just a person who likes to cuddle. but have fun convincing yourself you don't like soobin."_

_"i don't!"_

_"hey, i didn't say anything about it, you were the one that brought it up," beomgyu laughed._

_"i'm gonna kill you!"_   
  
  


what had he been right about? well, maybe about both things?-

* * *

soobin had been dozing off when he was abruptly awakened by the sudden snap of the lights as they turned on again. he hadn't gotten up, so yeonjun must have... probably to pee or something.

his heart involuntarily raced as the curtains opened again, much more calmly than the force with which they had been with earlier. it didn't match the angry tone yeonjun had used then.

suddenly, he felt a new weight shift the mattress. soobin rolled over to find- yeonjun?

the elder was digging himself in between soobin's blankets. he noticed soobin was awake and roughly grabbed the younger's hands, guiding them around his waist again.

he flipped around so that they were in the same position they had slept many nights together in the rv. soobin was back to pressing his nose into yeonjun's hair, lightly smelling the coconut-like scent of the elder and hoping he didn't notice.

yeonjun coughed and murmured, "you got me used to your sleep cuddles."

soobin didn't respond, smiling widely. he didn't care why, but they had made up.


	5. ₅ | that was a big fail

"oh, fuck!"

soobin looked up as yeonjun burst up from the bed, hair messy and in his face. there was a trail of crust from his mouth and across his cheek, signs that he'd been drooling while he slept last night.

how adorable.

yeonjun slid off his t-shirt as soobin turned away to face the small "kitchen" in their dorm, red-faced. 

the elder exclaimed, "why didn't you wake me up?! we're going to be late!!" upon noticing soobin's orange shirt and dark jeans, yeonjun exclaimed, "why aren't you dressed yet?"

soobin turned back around, ears flushed, and avoided gazing directly at yeonjun as he laughed shortly, "it's a no-uniform day."

a confused pout materialized on yeonjun's face.

"we enter an hour later, remember?" soobin smiled a small smile and walked over to his bed again, pulling on his shoes.

yeonjun hummed and sat back down, fiddling with the buttons of his uniform shirt, which he had halfway buttoned-up. "so, we don't wear our uniforms today, right?"

soobin nodded. "we can go with the others and get breakfast if-"

"can i wear your hoodie again," yeonjun interrupted, looking soobin straight in the eyes.

soobin pressed his lips into a thin smile. "uh, hyung, it's um... actually dirty."

"and?"

"you can't wear it like that."

"it doesn't matter to me."

"you're gross."

"i know it's not actually dirty. i saw when you washed it," yeonjun smiled triumphantly. "and you haven't worn it since."

soobin hummed. "it's at home."

"it's in your closet."

"it's... it doesn't match your outfit today."

"this isn't what i'm going to wear," yeonjun frowned, "why don't you want me to wear your hoodie?"

soobin scratched his head. "it's just... kai thinks i hate sharing my clothes, but he knows that hoodie because he saw me buy it and... i dunno, maybe they might suspect something?"

"no one will make it a big deal about it except _you_ ," yeonjun raised an eyebrow. "come onnnn..."

"fine," soobin sighed, grabbing a comb to at least give his hair some direction.

less than five minutes later, soobin was completely ready, and yeonjun was dressed in soobin's hoodie again, this time paired with sweats and his traditional black vans.

soobin tsked his tongue at the fact that yeonjun apparently thought it was okay to go to school without brushing his hair, so he helped him out.

 _'yeonjun hyung is the oldest in our group_ ,' soobin kept reminding himself. it was hard to remember sometimes.

once they were both ready, they went next door to check on beomgyu and taehyun, only opening the door to find kai there, too.

it took another 10 minutes to get them up and changed, and by then they had about half an hour to get breakfast.

thankfully, they were able to do just that.

at a table in the café they'd chosen, kai was frowning seriously at yeonjun's choice of attire. he couldn't quite put his finger on why it felt like there was something different about his hyung.

taehyun wrinkled his nose at beomgyu. "how can you eat that stuff?"

"it's a power shake," beomgyu made a face at him. "you drink it, not _eat it_."

yeonjun raised his eyebrows. "what are you drinking power shakes for?"

"dance. i've got to keep my strength up if i want to keep my place on the team." he pursed his lips and did not take another sip of the weird-colored drink, however.

everyone understood.

"you can have my last piece of bread," soobin held it across the table.

"i have some hot chocolate left!" kai smiled brightly.

"i'm not going to eat this apple," yeonjun rolled it across the table.

"i got an extra banana milk if you want it," taehyun offered, starting to dig through his bag.

beomgyu smiled sadly at their attempts. "n-no thanks, guys. i'm fine." he stood up and grabbed the shake, running off.

"oh damn."

yeonjun reached out to grab the apple and cursed as his hand could not reach it.

taehyun noticed the struggle and rolled it back to yeonjun, who frowned as he caught it. "i hate having short arms."

kai scratched his head. "do you guys think that beommie hyung will be okay?"

taehyun nodded. "he's just a little stressed. we all get that way."

soobin swiped his bread back into his mouth and shook his head. "we gave him our leftovers, too. he was probably embarrassed."

yeonjun checked the time and waved everyone to stand up. "or he realized we'll be late if we don't leave right now. let's go, guys."

being third years, yeonjun and soobin had different homerooms than kai and taehyun, so they separated ways.

kai was silent as he walked to his homeroom, and taehyun wasn't one to force conversation, so they continued on quietly.

* * *

the group only saw each other again at lunch, and this time, everyone had been early enough to snag a spot under the tree.

beomgyu was picking at a salad while yeonjun energetically explained how his math class might be taking a trip to a theme park for the rollercoasters during the year.

soobin was staring at him with awe in his eyes, and then he'd flush as he tried to look anywhere else, but his eyes would aways gravitate back to yeonjun. 

after yeonjun was done explaining, taehyun brightened. "oh, hyungs. i got around to listening to that one artist yeonjun hyung told us to-"

"bARELY," yeonjun exclaimed. he crossed his arms and pulled the hood of the hoodie over his head, pouting.

something clicked in kai's head and he widened his eyes, turning his head to look soobin in the eye.

when soobin turned to meet kai's eyes, he saw the understanding and looked down at the grass, starting to nervously sweat.

"yeonjun hyung, where did you get that sweater," kai asked sweetly, catching everyone except soobin off guard.

"i-it's not a sweater, it's a hoodie," yeonjun corrected, and he looked over at soobin, surprised by the younger's expression of horror.

"funny, 'cause i know soobin hyung bought that one because he liked the color," kai narrowed his eyes. "and he hates sharing clothes."

taehyun raised his eyebrows and looked at the two eldest in turn, smug. beomgyu smiled good-naturedly, but it didn't reach his eyes.

soobin laughed hollowly. "oh, i grew out of that."

at the same time, yeonjun said, "i had nothing else to wear."

their eyes met, widened with desperation at the failed synchronization.

soobin corrected, "oh, oh, i let yeonjun hyung keep it since it didn't fit anymore, and he didn't have anything else to wear."

beomgyu nodded. "yeonjun hyung does hate doing laundry."

"do you even _know_ how to do laundry," yeonjun made a face at beomgyu, causing the rest of them to laugh it off.

soobin's stomach filled with dread. yeonjun had been wrong. he'd been so wrong, and now the others all knew and his anxiety was skyrocketing.

he excused himself and stood up quickly, dumping his half-eaten lunch in the trash can with a dazed look in his eyes. he stumbled away from their group and furrowed his eyebrows.

what did the others think? did they suspect? did they think this was wrong? maybe it was. or, were they disgusted by the idea of it?

soobin's mind distorted the memory of the conversation so that kai had seemed angry by the thought, and taehyun and beomgyu had been thoroughly horrified and unconvinced by the lie they'd told.

"hey watch out-!"

a body flailed in front of him as soobin stopped cold. he'd been about to trample a smaller, blond-haired boy as he walked through the group that sat with him.

he surveyed them quickly, stuttering an apology. two redheads, a raven-haired guy, and a silver-haired one, besides the blond guy.

one of the redheads huffed. "please watch where you're going, soobin!"

he froze a little. how did he know him? the redhead looked eyes with soobin and raised an eyebrow.

"you know this kid, daehwi?" the silver-haired guy surveyed soobin.

daehwi. daehwi. where had he heard that name before? oh shit. his brain was blank.

daehwi narrowed his eyes. "of course. i have him in my health class. you sit with yeonjun in the back."

at the mention of yeonjun's name, soobin's stomach knotted and he felt like running away again.

the other redhead squinted. "why do you have to be so tall? geez, leave some height for the rest of us."

the black-haired guy smacked him lightly and pointed to the lunch in front of him, evidently telling him to shut up and eat.

daehwi asked, "are you the guy who's room kai sleeps in?"

"huening kai? m-me? no," soobin admitted. "but he's my friend."

the silver-haired one rolled his eyes. he scooted closer to the blond, opening up a space in between him and daehwi. "welcome, daehwi's new friend."

daehwi picked up his juice box, threatening to throw it at him. "shut up, please."

soobin accepted the invitation and tried not to glance in the direction of the group he'd just left.

"you're soobin, right? i'm donghyun," the silver-haired boy introduced.

"hi, i'm woong," the blond he'd almost trampled earlier spoke.

"woojin," the other redhead nodded.

they looked expectantly to the black-haired guy, who nervously glanced at about everything else other than soobin. he blurted softly, "i'm youngmin."

"hey," soobin quietly spoke. he was glad they were so friendly but felt so anxious that they were new.

daehwi shifted on the jacket he was sitting on, adjusting the shoelaces of his converse high-tops as he spoke, "so, soobin, mind telling us what you were thinking about so hard you almost killed woong?"

"oh, right, i'm sorry," soobin apologized, feeling the embarrassment spread through his body.

woong waved his hands about. "no, no, no! stop! he- i- no.."

donghyun shook his head. "woong, you'd thank someone for kicking you in the face. you're lucky i'm here."

woojin rolled his eyes, ruffling at his hair, "and us, too. or did we not get expelled along with you two?"

soobin widened his eyes. "e-ex-expelled?!"

he gulped nervously. were they criminals?

"no," daehwi nudged woojin with his shoe. "this is why we can't make friends; you scare them away. youngmin, shut him up, please."

youngmin laughed softly and picked up woojin's lunch, pretending as if he was about to feed him like a child.

woojin leaned back. "i am younger than you. i appreciate this."

youngmin dropped the lunch and his mouth fell open. he smacked woojin's shoulder and covered his face as he laughed.

donghyun sighed. "don't mind them, they're practically married."

soobin was still worried about the whole "expelled" scenario. how much of that was true?

"says you," daehwi said pointedly.

the bell chimed then, and they promptly stood up.

soobin wanted to stall for time as long as possible. sports and health were his last two classes, both with yeonjun. he didn't want to have to face the elder after having accidentally ditched the group.

daehwi tossed his jacket very casually over his arm and posed like a model, earning a few cheers from the others, at which he waved at them to stop.

"anyway, i have math right now," daehwi shook his head. "fml. what about you, soobin?"

"i have sports," soobin answered, stiffening as he heard the familiar voices of his friends getting nearer.

daehwi gasped. "which one? we can cheer for you at your games! woojin's on the wrestling team, so he can tell you how good we are at it."

woojin stared seriously at soobin, his red bangs touching his eyelashes. "don't tell them. run away as fast as you can-"

"shut up," the four others chorused.

soobin's friends passed by them then, kai cracking up as beomgyu grinned, their eyes concentrated on taehyun, who was in the middle of saying something.

he felt a wave of sadness hit him. sure, daehwi and his friends seemed cool. but he should be over there with taehyun, beomgyu, and kai; he should know why they were laughing, and, more importantly...

_he should know why yeonjun wasn't with them either._

soobin furrowed his eyebrows, searching the backs of the boys surrounding his retreating friends. no, yeonjun was not among them.

daehwi waved, "bye soobin! will you sit with us tomorrow?"

tomorrow? he actually was okay with soobin crashing their group, and... actually wanted him to come back?

"s-sure," soobin agreed, surprised by the offer.

the group left, huddled together even though everyone gave them a great deal of space. soobin figured, everyone else knew about the group being expelled. why didn't he?

"why did you leave us?"

soobin turned around quickly to see yeonjun standing there with a hurt expression on his face.


	6. ₆ | yeonjun is mad

"why did you leave us?"

soobin felt his mouth dry up.

yeonjun continued, "and what were you doing with them? that group?"

"what's wrong with them," soobin asked hoarsely, somehow finding his voice again.

yeonjun raised an eyebrow. "all five of them were expelled from their last school. all for the same reason. you shouldn't hang around those type of people."

soobin scratched his head and began to walk the way to the lockers for sports.

yeonjun walked beside him. "you still didn't answer me." he lowered his voice, though there was hardly any people around. "are you that scared about them knowing?"

soobin shook his head. "what do you mean?"

"you know. tae. gyu. kai. you just got up and ran off to sit with someone else. are you that scared of them finding out about us?" yeonjun picked at the sleeve of the gray hoodie. there was an air of annoyance to him now.

soobin scoffed. "yes, well, they are our friends. but what i'm mostly scared about is what they might do if they find out. the school rules-"

"they would never do that if they found out, and you know it," yeonjun snapped.

they arrived at the boys' locker room. but after saying that, yeonjun did not speak to soobin.

the elder had ended up changing to have soccer with soobin and his hyungs, and now that they weren't speaking, made soobin wonder if it really was a good choice.

yeonjun was the kind of person who made it obvious when he was mad or annoyed with you. and that was exactly what was happening.

if taehyung or jungkook noticed the heavy air of tension between the two younger boys, they did not comment on it. everyone spent the next hour sweating and testing their muscles to the limit.

afterwards, in the locker room, jungkook nudged soobin aside, far enough away from their lockers so that yeonjun and the others could not hear. "if you and yeonjun are mad at each other, you're gonna have to work it out before thursday."

"why?" soobin frowned. "what's so special about thursday?"

"we're playing star prep. they've been our rivals for a long time," jungkook explained. "and if you're mad at your boyfriend, and he's mad at you, when you play, it'll mess everyone up. we really need to keep our heads in the game."

"i get how it could mess up how yeonjun and i play," soobin raised his eyebrows, "but how would it mess up hyungs'?"

jungkook sighed. "it affects the mood of the team, and- it's a whole superstition thing, really. but, i take soccer very seriously. as captain, i have to. my whole future depends on this. i could get a serious scholarship to college, you know? so, i'm obligated to tell you to work it out or consider being benched."

soobin let his eyes wander over to yeonjun, whose face appeared glum and solemn, as he changed behind his locker door and did not partake in any conversation around him. usually he was quite the chatterbox, and soobin would always end up having to wait for him to finish his conversations before they could go.

however, the last few minutes of the period dragged on, and when the bell rang, soobin was quite surprised to see yeonjun sit quietly on the bench and wait for soobin to pack away his stuff.

"hey," he whispered softly, just loud enough to reach yeonjun's ears, and just quiet enough so he could pretend he was coughing or something should yeonjun choose not to answer.

yeonjun pondered the choice for a moment, but finally replied, "hey."

"let's get to health, yeah?"

yeonjun looked at soobin seriously. "yeah."

at their next class, yeonjun sat normally in his seat, keeping a good 3 inches of space between his arm and soobin's.

the teacher at the front spoke about random things, probably to do with health, not that anyone was really paying attention, and then announced there would be a group project.

she motioned for each person to make a minimum group of three, and sit together.

not four seconds later, daehwi's iconic bright red hair showed up beside soobin and plopped down a chair. "wanna be in a group?"

soobin hummed, "sure. yeonjun-?"

but yeonjun had left? his seat was empty, and soobin noticed the elder had been invited to work with another pair, whose names he did not remember.

"ouch," daehwi whispered quietly. soobin pretended not to hear.

there was another boy nearby, who was very shy and kept to himself. soobin tried to think of his name, but never recalled hearing it. he turned to daehwi helplessly.

daehwi made a face. "i don't remember his name. this is annoying me. hey, kid! you, in the black e-boy outfit!"

the boy slowly turned around, eyes wide with surprise and fear. he was tiny and adorable, but there was an air of nervous perseverance, as if he was able to fend for himself if need be.

nevertheless, he walked over to daehwi and soobin and raised his eyebrows. "you talkin' to me?"

daehwi nodded. "what's your name? do you want to be in our group?"

the boy opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly a voice called from the doorway, "omg! jeongin!"

a brown-haired boy waved from the door. he beelined right over and had a wide, toothy smile. "i just got transferred in! what are we doing?"

a smile appeared on jeongin's face. "well, we were just making groups to do projects."

"omg— jisungie?!" one of the boys from yeonjun's group stuck his head up. "i thought i heard you!"

"hi chris!!" jisung tapped jeongin's shoulder. "let's go with chris!"

jeongin obliged, leaving daehwi and soobin by their lonesome, and bringing yeonjun's group to a grand total of five people.

the teacher clicked her way over to the now noisy group and tsked, shaking her head. "one of you will have to join another group. like...." she looked around the room and locked eyes with daehwi's annoyed look. "ah, daehwi and soobin's group. they need one more person. will someone volunteer?"

each person in the group turned to look at each other in turn before the other four pairs of eyes finally rested on yeonjun, silently forcing him to volunteer. yeonjun slowly raised his hand and grudgingly stood up, as the class went dead silent.

he grabbed his backpack and sat back down next to soobin, and then the class noise level rose in volume while groups started up on their projects.

yeonjun crossed his arms and shot, looking at daehwi coldly, "you'd better do your work."

daehwi sighed. "is that what people are thinking of us? damn."

"thinking about what?" soobin's eyes flicked to yeonjun and daehwi worriedly.

daehwi shook his head. "you know, just because we got expelled doesn't mean we don't care."

again with the getting "expelled" bit? soobin was curious about how a whole group of five kids could all get expelled for one thing, and still be allowed to attend another school together.

"it's the exact opposite," daehwi continued. "we care a lot. there was nothing else we could have done. they were hurting woong-"

"i don't want to hear it," yeonjun cut him off. the last word had been shaky and his voice had cracked. when soobin turned to look at him in concern, he found yeonjun's glassy, red-tinged eyes.

fortunately, they did not speak much for the remainder of the class, only to correct each other on their group project, which was to construct an ideal way to raise a family and to make a poster about it.

this took the remainder of the period, and it seemed like time flew by for them before the bell suddenly chimed.

cheerful voices filled the space of the classroom as chairs and tables were scraped back into their regular places and supplies returned to their boxes.

daehwi sighed. "we're supposed to have this done by-"

"-tomorrow," yeonjun supplied flatly.

"we still have a lot to do," soobin tapped his fingers nervously on the table. "what if we came in during lunch or a free period?"

daehwi frowned. "but i don't think all of us have the same free period."

"we can just come in on our own and work on our separate parts," yeonjun decided. he curled up the poster and left briskly to leave it in the pile that everyone else was leaving theirs in.

daehwi waved a last goodbye to soobin and picked up his backpack, sending a last nervous look in yeonjun's direction.

in a last effort, soobin whispered harshly, "daehwi, you were expelled-? why?"

daehwi shook his head. "i would rather just forget about it. woong asked us to not speak about it again, and the others really prefer everyone minds their own business."

and with that, he walked out of the classroom, leaving behind a confused soobin who still questioned why they had been expelled and theorizing it must have been terrible for them to not want to talk about it.

the thing was, how did yeonjun and everyone else know about it and not him? or was it merely theories and gossip?

whatever the case, yeonjun was still annoyed about earlier.

soobin waited for him to walk back over and pick up his stuff, but then asked, "hey, you don't have any plans for today, right?"

yeonjun scratched his nose and looked at the ground. "i kinda have a lot of math homework today-"

"besides homework," soobin interjected.

yeonjun shook his head softly, a pout on his lips.

everyone else had already left the classroom, even the teacher, who had been the first.

"hey, i'm sorry," soobin looked him in the eyes and apologized. "i didn't think you'd be so hurt when i left."

"it's not that you left," yeonjun nervously played with the straps of his backpack and avoided eye contact. "it's just... it feels like you're gonna replace us."

"i could never," soobin insisted. "you guys are my best friends."

yeonjun finally turned to look him in the eyes. "promise?"

soobin lightly laced his hand with yeonjun's. "i do."

a smile lit up yeonjun's face, and in that moment, soobin's heart fluttered with an emotion so beautiful he couldn't begin to describe it.

yeonjun looked at their entwined hands and smiled, a cute blush filling his cheeks.

soobin lightly poked at them, earning a shout from yeonjun. "hey!"

"you do it to me all the time," soobin looked at him pointedly.

"that's different," yeonjun spoke in pout, "only i get to poke your cheeks."

"that's totally unfair!"

"deal with it."


	7. ₇ | star prep sucks

"oh my god, this place is really looking like something out of a harry potter book," yeonjun whispered as he walked down the hall beside the others.

taehyun squinted at the decorations. "yeonjun-hyung, i'm not entirely sure you actually _read_ the harry potter books."

"i totally did," yeonjun retorted angrily, crossing his arms across his chest.

there were silk drapes hanging from the ceiling and on the wall, glittering in the dim light of the hallway. the air smelled of pumpkins and there was excitement in the halls. posters advertising things were plastered on the walls, though no one payed much attention to them.

there were lanterns about every 20 feet, the cause of the dim lighting. the intersection of the main hall that connected the different areas of the school was gigantic and had a sign post pointing to the different directions, labelled with what was down that hall.

"i love halloween," kai sighed.

beomgyu chided him, "these aren't _halloween_ decorations, they're _fall_ decor."

taehyun shrugged. "i mean, you could argue a tempting case for either side."

soobin clapped his hands eagerly. "you know, i always wanted to be a gryffindor."

"please," taehyun scoffed, "you're a hufflepuff at best."

"what's wrong with hufflepuff," beomgyu exclaimed.

"nothing." taehyun shook his head. "but, now, ravenclaw is where it's at."

kai sniffed. "you mere muggles have no idea what the best house is. slytherin wins, no contest!"

yeonjun cheered and high-fived him. "fellow slytherin buddy!"

beomgyu sighed. "i'd kill for a harry potter marathon right now."

"that's going to have to wait until later," soobin laughed. "by the way, you guys are coming to the game today, right?"

taehyun hummed, "it's happening on-campus, right? yeah, we'll go."

"you don't seem so excited," soobin deflated.

yeonjun argued, "i'm excited!"

"that's different, you're playing," soobin said pointedly.

"i'm going to be benched," yeonjun corrected. "anyway, you guys have to come! soobin is playing forward today! the coach finally saw his potential! it was crazy! at practice, he was so cool and awesome with those moves-!"

"technically, jungkook-hyung vouched for me," soobin shook his head.

yeonjun looked exasperated. "oh my god, soobin, just take the fREAKING compliMENT!"

beomgyu laughed nervously, grabbing yeonjun's arm. "okay, hyung. let's just get going, yes?"

yeonjun complimenting someone? not weird.

soobin degrading his accomplishments and insisting he didn't deserve praise? not weird.

it was how long soobin had let yeonjun prattle on with the compliments before stopping him and how much yeonjun had insisted on complimenting him that was weird.

* * *

"you seem pretty happy," jungkook commented as soobin jumped up and down in place.

soobin shrugged. "i'm nervous, you know?"

"ah, i get it. i remember my first time playing on the team," jungkook said in a mesmerized voice. his eyes became blank with the memories. "you know, coach was really proud. my friends were screaming like crazy, and i was great. team captain in the making. and i still have the same position.."

soobin was not really paying attention to his hyung's speech, which he felt terrible for, sure. but he was even more nervous because of the note he'd found in his gym locker, from yeonjun.

_i know you'll do great as a forward today :)_   
_you score a goal for me ;)_   
_~ june_

of course, since they were very careful about keeping their relationship a secret, they had code names. yeonjun's was "june" and soobin's was "sue".

the simple promise already had soobin's stomach in knots.

they were walking onto the field with the rest of the team, clad in the blue and gold sport uniforms of their school.

people booed from the benches at first, obviously there in support of the other team. then their team's fans noticed it was time for them to cheer, and they did.

soobin cringed as he heard multiple voices shouting at him.

there were girls from other schools there too, and many of them were cheering for jungkook. a few were pointing and and staring at him though, which made soobin feel uncomfortable.

"go soobin!!" soobin covered his face in embarrassment. yes, this was his first gane on-field, but did jimin-hyung really have to bring a sign??

everyone would turn and look at soobin's personal cheering section every once in awhile, comprised of the hyungs, which included jimin, namjoon, woong, donghyun, woojin, daehwi, and youngmin, and beomgyu, taehyun, and kai.

taehyung grinned and patted soobin's shoulder. "everyone's excited to see you play, huh?"

soobin shivered slightly and pleaded, "don't remind me. i'm so nervous."

"you'll do great! anyway, you tend to tune them out after awhile," taehyung admitted brightly.

after warm-ups, jungkook announced a team meeting, and told everyone their positions.

"coach said we're starting off with a 2-3-4 field: 2 forwards, 3 half-backs, and 4 defenders." jungkook pointed at each person in turn. "for forwards: soobin will be on the right, and taehyung on the left. i'll be center-midfield, and i want haechan and lucas on either side, doesn't matter. for my defense, we'll have hyunjin and minho as center, with woojin on the right, and renjun on the left. and of course, we'll have our new addition, seungmin, as goalie. any questions?"

taehyung raised a hand. "yes. what team?"

jungkook rolled his eyes, but there was a smile on his face.

"wILDCATS," minho and renjun roared.

hyunjin smiled. "it's hilarious how our mascot is actually a wildcat."

"well, whatever, let's get playing," jungkook nodded firmly. "we can beat them!"

after several years of matches ending in ties, star prep had one the championship one year, and last year, their school had won. if they won again, they would effectively prove their championship.

as they walked to their positions, soobin felt incredibly nervous. his stomach tied itself into knots and he felt sick.

the midfield on the right, lucas, grinned and asked, "hey, soobin, right? you feeling alright? oh, did june come to see you? where is she?"

soobin cringed at the "she". he then realized what lucas had said. "wait, june-? how do you know about that?"

"one of the guys on bench says he saw her come in and leave a note," lucas shrugged.

"wong! choi! leave the girlfriend talk for the locker room," came jungkook's shout from across the field.

the other teammates giggled and seemed to tease them about it.

soobin turned to the side where the bleachers were, facing the teammates that had been benched, and immediately caught yeonjun's eyes.

yeonjun mouthed, 'score for jun'.

soobin smiled and nodded slightly, immediately looking forward as the referee blew the whistle and signaled the start of the match.

angry voices immediately erupted as a member of star prep's team fumbled the ball and missed his pass, allowing hyunjin to send it up to minho.

minho took the ball and dribbled it up, taking a single glance before blasting it up to soobin.

a boy from the other team intercepted the ball, and lucas dove for it. there was a blur of movement as lucas faced his opponent.

then, so quickly that the poor boy was the only one who saw, lucas winked in his teasing manner and caused the other to fall over in a stupor.

his teammates screamed at him while he sat in a daze, and lucas sent a clean pass up to soobin.

soobin had the ball at his feet for a few milliseconds as his brain tried to compute what to do.

a defensive player swung in, and soobin slid the ball out of their reach in the last second. he dragged the ball with his foot and dribbled, using small toe touches to move it away from the people in his path.

he then saw the opportunity and used his power kick to soar the ball through the air in a center towards taehyung's forhead, which was a good thing, as the elder was known for scoring legendary goals with his head.

however, taehyung was too tall for the kick that soobin had used.

the ball hit his chest and ricocheted off, right to the defense on the other team.

the crowd aw-ed in disappointment and soobin began to apologize profusely to taehyung.

the first half continued on like this, with the possession of the ball bouncing from their school to star prep.

in the last few minutes, a thoroughly frustrated seungmin picked himself up from the grass after falling onto the ground trying to block a shot, which had become a goal.

the score was now 2-0, and their school was losing.

taehyung set the ball down at the kickoff line and looked to soobin.

he was usually the one to start it off, by passing it to taehyung, who was a sprinter, and would try to pass the defensive players with sheer speed.

but now, it seemed he was signaling that he would be passing it to soobin.

he tried to argue, but then taehyung had sent the ball to him.

"trust me," was all he could hear before taehyung was replaced with a horde of red and black jerseys running at him.

soobin panicked and turned his back to them, sending a quick pass down to jungkook before running like his life depended on it.

he had no idea what to do, but it seemed the others did.

jungkook nodded at haechan before passing it to him, and haechan immediately sent it back to hyunjin, who relayed it to seungmin.

lucas motioned for soobin to go far back, and he did so.

seungmin passed it to minho, who was the strong kicker of their team. minho locked eyes with soobin and sent him a powerful kick, passing over everyone's heads, including soobin.

soobin chased after it, going down the middle of the field.

his heartbeat roared in his ears and his feet stung with the strain of pushing himself to sprint, as soobin was not used to running so fast when he was tired.

the goalie was running too, to get to the ball before soobin.

soobin took his chance, a second before the goalie dove for it.

he kicked.

it was a soft, toe touch of a kick. surely not enough to pass the goalie, soobin thought.

his eyes lost sight of the ball for a second, and then they witnessed it crashing into the net.

everyone from their team cheered, and soobin actually felt himself jump up for joy.

taehyung whooped and charged for him. soobin was hugged tightly by the long-armed elder.

there were happy cheers all around him. they took their places again, and the referee almost automatically blew the whistle to end the first half.

granted, there was still another 45 minutes to play, and the score was 2-1, with star prep winning, but soobin had given his team the first goal to start them off, and it was his first-ever goal during game-time since he was moved from bench to starter.

the other teammates surrounded him and congratulated him.

from the bleachers, he could hear a shouting competition erupt between jimin and woong, something unexpected.

even the boys from bench high-fived him and chattered about how cool the goal had been.

after a 10 minute break, during which the coach went over a few plays that they had done wrong and advised them on new ones, they resumed the game with happy hearts.

once the last goals were scored, the referee called the game over, leaving the score at 8 to 7, and soobin's team as champions for another year.

out of the 8 total, jungkook had scored 3 goals, taehyung had scored 2, lucas another 2, and soobin had only scored 1.

yet, everyone was cheering for soobin more than the others. apparently it was usual for jungkook, taehyung, and lucas to score, but because soobin was a newbie, everyone was more impressed by his one goal than the others.

after he had changed back out of his soccer uniform, yeonjun informed him excitedly, "apparently jungkook-hyung says the team got permission to leave campus and celebrate!"

soobin asked, "can we take our friends?"

"i'm not sure, but they're only 3 extra people, so i'm sure they won't stand out," yeonjun shrugged.

"three?!" soobin raised his eyebrows. "what about my other friends?"

yeonjun deflated a little. "you're seriously considering bringing _them_ along?"

"what's that tone supposed to mean," soobin asked at the lack of happiness in yeonjun's words.

yeonjun scoffed, "nothing. just, are you sure you want to be responsible for what those _delinquents_ -"

"you know what? i don't want to argue with you on this," soobin scoffed.

jungkook suddenly interjected, "good, because your _very_ _awesome_ **team captain** is here to inform you that strictly only players are allowed off-campus right now for the celebration. so, unless you're referring to your fellow teammates, i'm afraid your friends will have to stay. now, hurry your pretty butts up and let's get going already!"

as the elder walked away, he left soobin and yeonjun in stunned silence.

"did he just... call my butt pretty?"

"it is. but not prettier than mine."


	8. ₈ | boys and their one shared braincell

"alright, so have at it," the coach motioned at the table, which was full of hot food.

jungkook laughed, "aye coach, don't act like you were the one that paid-!"

taehyung poked jungkook, "kook, shut up!"

the coach just shook her head and laughed good-naturedly. she sat back down and that seemed to be the cue to start eating, although woojin was already through his fifth piece of chicken.

yeonjun and soobin had agreed to not argue for the moment, since they were going out with the team to celebrate and didn't want to spoil the happiness of the evening.

therefore, their chairs were close together, close enough so that they could hold hands under the table and not look strange to the others.

minho asked, "so, hey, soobin? what's this we're all hearing about some girl named june leaving you notes?"

soobin felt yeonjun freeze up next to him. his grip tightened and began to feel sweaty.

"uh, wow.." soobin had no idea what to say. "news really travels fast, huh?" he let go of yeonjun's hand and scratched his own ear nervously.

lucas pointed with his fork. "yeonjun says he saw her, huh?"

soobin looked at yeonjun accusingly. he raised his eyebrows and blinked furiously. "oh, really, yeon _jun_? you saw _her_?"

he purposefully put emphasis on the "jun" of yeonjun's name, blatantly showing why saying that he'd seen "june" was a bad idea.

yeonjun cleared his throat and explained, "well, see, i saw that she had left soobin something, and since i'm a nosy ass bitch, i wanted to check it out... which is when _lucas saw me going through soobin's locker_."

in the simple tone of his voice, soobin could tell. yeonjun had been caught, and he had to make something up on the spot. the lie about seeing june had come as a result from that.

lucas laughed, "yeonjun's such a good friend, you know? trying to make sure the girls don't go bothering soobin since he has so many fans."

minho shrugged. "it is true about the girls."

soobin asked incredulously, "i have _fans_?"

"duh. does june not prove that?" hyunjin sighed and leaned his head into his hand, showing how annoyed he was with everyone's stupidity.

"well, i thought it was just june," soobin said slowly. he didn't really believe it. it felt surreal.

taehyung interjected, "how do the girls even find out about that stuff? like, when our games are, who's playing?"

"i hear they get told by their own teachers and shit," jungkook shrugged. he stuffed more food in his mouth and continued talking. "or maybe they spy on us."

"girl are scary with how much info they can find when they try," lucas shook his head. he was leaning his elbows on the table now, very much involved in the conversation.

haechan said dubiously, "soobin, there's no way you didn't notice how much they were cheering and talking about you, especially after your goal." he raised his eyebrows.

"the girls were cheering for you _the whole time_ at the game today," seungmin interjected angrily. "for you and jungkook, mostly. some for taehyung and lucas. but, tbh, i was really annoyed by it. it completely threw my game off."

he stabbed his food with a utensil to show his annoyance.

woojin placed a hand on his arm. "hey, don't be so worked up by it. if the midfield or defense had stopped the other team before they got to you, there would have been an even less chance of a goal being scored. so, you shouldn't blame yourself."

"i'm not," seungmin insisted. "i'm blaming those annoying-ass girls."

jungkook sighed. "they _are_ annoying at times."

"oh shut up," haechan shook his head. "for once, i'd _wish_ , to get as much attention as you do."

"well, yeah, but haechannie and you guys who play have all that attention. those of us that are benched don't get playing time _and_ the girls ignore us," pouted another boy named jaemin.

"tell me about it," renjun scoffed.

"okay, _you_ shut up because you actually _play_ ," argued jaehyun. he started to stand up and there was tension in the air.

"alright, alright," the coach waved her hands in a placating manner. "y'all are great players and all deserve attention, in my opinion. now, why are y'all sad when we just won against star prep for the second year in a row?!"

"ah, true, true," jungkook nodded. "we're way better than them."

that got everyone's spirits up and they were talking cheerfully again.

by the time they were through dessert, it was around 10pm and pretty late, but everyone was full of energy.

they went back to school on a bus, filling the otherwise empty vehicle with their loud conversations.

yeonjun and soobin were sitting towards the front, since everyone was mostly in the middle to the back of the bus.

"yeah, i panicked," yeonjun explained. "he just showed up out of nowhere, and i was standing there sifting through your locker? it would have looked weird to anyone."

"still, why did you mention the note?" soobin was looking straight forward, and yeonjun's head was on his shoulder. to anyone from the back, it probably looked like yeonjun had fallen asleep, and soobin, being himself, was too shy and polite to wake up the elder. "i mean, i don't think he would have asked about it."

"i said it as a backup, because i thought you might react all weird and tell everyone when you found it," yeonjun mumbled in his usual pouty way. "besides, he walked right over to actually look at what i was doing."

soobin sighed. "even though we go to an all-boys school, why is everyone nosy and dramatic? look at how everyone spreads gossip about daehwi and the others and still avoids them even though they don't know about it."

yeonjun said in an even tone, "are you sure you want to bring that up, soobin?"

soobin was quiet. why was that subject so touchy for them? why did they have to tiptoe around it? why did they have to act as if it were a time-sensitive bomb that they had no idea of the time left before detonation, dreading and guessing who would be the one to set it off?

at the stop near their school, the coach announced that it was time for them to get off. before the team could reach the front, however, the old bus driver stopped soobin and yeonjun as they walked past him.

the old man warbled, "hey, you two."

yeonjun grabbed soobin's arm in fear. he knew they had sat too close to the driver for how loud they were talking. he was sure the old man was going to pop off on them for the way they were acting, obviously in a relationship.

a lot of people were against what they had.

instead, they got a kind, tired smile, and the sentence, "it will be okay."

he motioned for them to get going, just as the team caught up to them.

as they walked back into school, now a respectful distance away from each other, that small act of kindness warmed both of their hearts.

once in the student hall, they said goodbye to the others, who were apparently going to minho's dorm room for a mini-party.

apparently, minho's roommate was okay with that.

however, yeonjun and soobin were not in a partying mood, and yeonjun was more happy to get soobin cuddles anyway.

"let's check up on tae and gyu; kai's probably with them too," soobin said quietly. before yeonjun could protest, soobin had knocked on their door already.

suddenly, there were footsteps down the hall.

yeonjun froze with wide eyes, staring at soobin.

soobin whispered harshly, "come on!"

he quickly unlocked their dorm and cursed as the motion-sensing lights turned on. yeonjun pushed the door closed and scrambled to get into bed.

why were they so anxious to avoid someone walking down the hall, you might ask?

ever since there had been suspicions of parties and people switching roommates, there were actual security guards patrolling the halls to make sure no one was where they weren't supposed to be.

someone knocked at the door.

as soobin slowly got up, yeonjun made a big show of looking like he had just woken up. he pulled off his uniform and mussed up his hair. he then covered himself up in the blankets and curled up on his side as soobin opened the door.

the person at the door snickered, "you guys ran quick."

soobin sighed angrily. "yeonjun, it's fine, get up. it was just lucas."

yeonjun stayed curled up. his heart was racing.

lucas laughed. "anyway, minho was wondering if you guys would change your minds if we asked some girls to show up."

"how would they even get in," soobin asked curiously.

or was that curiosity imagined? there was something in soobin's tone... interest? that had yeonjun's heart racing with so many emotions he was dizzy.

lucas said casually, "oh, you know, they have their ways. they'll come desperately when we invite them."

"that's disgusting," yeonjun said out loud, but not loud enough for the other two to hear.

soobin sighed, scratching his head. "actually, lucas, i don't think yeonjun's in a mood to go out-"

"so don't bring yeonjun then."

yeonjun froze up. he felt his blood boil. had lucas always been such a jerk?

"i don't mean to be rude," lucas apologized. "everyone knows you two are bffs. but, if yeonjun doesn't want to come, you should anyway, since you want to."

there was silence. yeonjun could swear his heart was about to burst through his chest. he would kill to see the look on soobin's face right now.

in fact, he was just starting to sit up when soobin said, "let me get dressed. i'll be out in a bit."

the door closed, and yeonjun sat up angrily.

soobin took note of the anger and tension in the air. he did nothing to either help or add to it.

actually, scratch that.

just from the way he deliberately ignored yeonjun was adding to the angry tension.

yeonjun said flatly, "so you're going."

"mhm," soobin answered. "actually, hey, have you seen my hoodie-?"

"oh i doubt you'll need it, wherever you end up," yeonjun snapped. he didn't mean to. but, where was all this jealousy coming from?

soobin said cautiously, "i'm just going to hang out with the guys."

"you were interested when lucas mentioned girls," yeonjun said coldly.

soobin threw his hands up in the air. "you know what? we're not going to talk about this right now. i'll see you tomorrow."

he leaned in to yeonjun, who very deliberately turned his head and crossed his arms.

instead of pushing it, soobin sighed and turned to leave.

and once the door closed behind him, yeonjun felt the first, hot tear slowly drip down his face. 


	9. ₉ | a whole mess

and the next morning, everyone found themselves attending a mandatory assembly for the whole student body.

the principal, a man named mr. lee, spoke on how the security guards had broken up a party.

"the people responsible are being punished," mr. lee explained, "and since we have had such a terrible problem with people switching rooms and having parties, there will now be a stricter form of enforcement for these rules. this is not 'party' school and you are not here to fool around."

beomgyu leaned over to whisper, "hey, junie-hyung. sorry we didn't answer yesterday, we were all asleep. what happened? why were you crying?"

yeonjun didn't answer. his eyes were puffy and bloodshot, and he hadn't even cared enough to fix up his uniform, which was hanging lazily on him.

he looked around the auditorium and tried to find soobin. the principal had explained that the ones that had been caught were sent home for some time.

yeonjun hoped soobin had not gotten caught; ever since a young age soobin had been terrified of getting in trouble with his parents.

but, towards the back of the auditorium, was soobin, who was also looking around for yeonjun while he sat with his other soccer teammates, those who had not been caught.

woojin asked seungmin in a whisper, "so that's what you were up to yesterday? this is why you shouldn't go off to parties! you guys could have been suspended! who got caught?"

seungmin shook his head. "poor minho had no chance. it was his and jisung's room, so they both got suspended. maybe even expelled, who knows?"

"and jaemin, renjun, and the other jisung also got caught," hyunjin supplied, sliding down farther in his seat. "a lot of the people on bench were caught, actually."

soobin thanked his lucky stars seungmin had helped him escape in the few moments before the security guards had taken absolute control of the room.

they'd ran right to the closest room they could think of, which had been taehyung-hyung and namjoon-hyung's room.

although grumpy about sharing their space, the two elders had forfeited a good night's sleep in order to shelter them for some time.

they had been some of the lucky ones.

"at least yesterday was our last game, so we don't have to worry about playing with most of our team gone," lucas shrugged.

"but, seriously, why did we get in so much trouble," seungmin asked with a sour look on his face. "we're not even close to being the worst. the volleyball kids are crazy, too."

"volleyball kids?" hyunjin shook his head. "the basketball team is party central; remember last year? i'm surprised they never got caught."

"this school just loves its basketball team i guess," woojin frowned. "while i am not saying i'm in favor of the parties, i do agree it kind of feels unfair that we're in so much trouble for this one."

"i miss minho," hyunjin sighed.

"and everyone else," lucas grinned as he added that as a reminder.

"sure," hyunjin agreed half-heartedly.

after an eternity it seemed, soobin finally caught yeonjun's eye for a moment. yeonjun had quickly turned away, and soobin wondered if those were tears he had seen.

just to be safe, maybe he should avoid sitting with his friends for some time, he figured.

after the assembly, soobin panicked as he felt two pairs of arms suddenly wrap around him and squeeze.

at least, that was until he saw they belonged to daehwi and woong.

woong huffed, "soobin! we were so worried when they said the soccer team was being punished for the party! what happened?!"

daehwi also tacked on, "and how are you not in trouble with the rest of them?"

"oh, uh-"

youngmin, woojin, and donghyun also strolled up to them, causing there to be quite a group around soobin, as what was left of the soccer team was also standing around him.

"one of my teammates helped me escape before we could get caught," soobin explained.

donghyun raised an eyebrow. "i was half-wondering if you were even there. you don't really seem like the partying type."

"i can party," soobin protested, "and i am so the type to be at parties!"

woojin sighed, "dude, don't take this the wrong way, but i think we're more likely to hear youngmin talk to a stranger than see you at a party."

youngmin widened his eyes and shoved woojin lightly, holding up a finger threateningly.

"oh, see, now you made youngmin-hyung mad," woong pointed out.

"n-nah," woojin laughed nervously, which then stopped abruptly as youngmin began to walk away. the redhead followed swiftly after, shouting, "aw, come on! don't make me say the 's' word!!"

daehwi shook his head and shivered before saying, "i need some coffee, let's go get breakfast already."

"do you really not see me going to parties," soobin asked worriedly as he walked alongside donghyun. "because, if so, it's not _my_ fault i'm just more studious..."

* * *

throughout the day, soobin tried to go about as if everything was alright. he grinned and high-fived his teammates in the hallways and tried to concentrate on his classwork.

he tried to convince himself that he did nothing wrong-

actually, scratch that. he didn't do anything wrong. but why did he feel like he did?

anyway, he tried to do his normal schoolwork but it was just so boring sometimes. how could they expect him to concentrate? As the class clown of a partner that he had for his english class said, "we're on a rock spinning through space that has no end and you want me to do _conjugations_?!"

that felix kid was something else.

soobin drooped down in his seat and counted down the minutes until the next period.

the teacher explained that their work for the day was to read the text and answer the reading questions.

sure enough, as soon as they moved their desks closer together to work, felix complained, "reading questions?! are they serious? they can't be serious; there's no way they think we're this stupid."

"after seeing your last test scores, felix, yes, i'd say maybe you are this stupid," the teacher replied smoothly as he walked past.

before he could reel it in, a snicker burst from soobin's mouth and he grinned at the sick burn.

a blond held out his hand and cackled, "woah, you sure got him, mr. j!"

the teacher high-fived him and felix scoffed, "shut up chris; you're failing gym."

"oh-!" a boy burst up from his seat, and soobin recognized him as the quiet boy from his health class, jeongin was his name? "it's on now! are you gonna take that, chris?"

"shut up, jeongin," they both chorused.

a black-haired boy on soobin's other side shook his head and insisted, "those aren't even roasts; you two shame me."

"this whole class shames me," the teacher interrupted again, "now do your work already!"

"alright, show us some roasts then, changbin," chris nodded.

the class was noisy as they started a contest, but soobin forced himself to concentrate and finish his work.

he took out his phone and hoped that one of his friends was too bored to do their own work, too.

luckily, kai suddenly sent a message. 

kai: people say congrats because they don't know how to spell congratulayshuns

taehyun: that caused me physical pain

yeonjun:

beomgyu: everyone, kai's one brain cell

soobin: what did i just read

taehyun: pay attention soobin, we're spelling congrachulayshuns

yeonjun: yeah keep up soobin, god

beomgyu: why do we always have to explain everything to you

soobin: excuse me, i breathed  
soobin: weren't we just attacking kai-?

kai: excuse me why would you attack me  
kai: obviously bc you're jealous of my beauty

taehyun:

beomgyu: no, let him have this

yeonjun:

yeonjun: bitch where

kai: oH MY GOD I'M BEAUTIFUL

taehyun: you're canceled  
taehyun: just like the calculus class i'm in right now

beomgyu: damn, no need to brag

yeonjun: we get it, you're smart asf

soobin: i'm in english );  
soobin: we had reading questions

kai: wHo cArEs  
kai: at least it's not math  
kai: holy shit i have homework due today that i never did  
kai:

beomgyu: well yeonjun and i are in science  
beomgyu: and the teacher just put himself to sleep

yeonjun: someone is drawing patrick on the board

beomgyu: ^ i wonder who

taehyun: shut up now please i'm taking a quiz and my phone keeps vibrating so everyone's staring at me  
  


their group may be a lot of things, but they were respectful to each other when it mattered, so no one texted after that.

well, mostly because they were afraid of the angry message taehyun would burst out at them, but, still respectful, anyway.

a second groupchat started firing off for soobin, too, so he decided to see what was blowing up the soccer groupchat.

hyunjeans: IS ANYONE IN MR. JUNG'S ENGLISH CLASS RN  
hyunjeans: WHY ARE YALL SCREAMING

soobean: some kids named chris, felix, and changbin started a roast battle

woojinnie: i mean, of course they did

mean-ho: what? i would be in that class right now ):  
mean-ho: i'd kill to see when felix and chris start throwing up gang signs

minnie-seungie: bruh, i'm in math and i can't concentrate on my work  
minnie-seungie: aren't you guys like three classrooms away

hyunjeans: yall are right next door to me lmao

goldenboikook: what are we discussing now

prettyboitae: a roast battle apparently

renjunhwang: ): omg i can't believe we're missing a roast battle

gay-chan: istg i'm so mad we got suspended because of a party

parkingjisung: i'm suing

je-nochill: felix and chris? aint those the kids that never do their work

woojinnie: i would swear off chicken for life if it would make them do their work  
woojinnie: if

hyunjeans: yeah thats a lie

woojinnie: you're calling me a LiAr

hyunjeans: wELL i aInT CaLLiNg yOu a tRuThEr

gay-chan: lmao

mean-ho: i miss you guys ):

hyunjeans: i miss you too minho ):

mean-ho: no i don't miss you

soobean:

je-nochill: can we get an f in the chat

goldenboikook: oof

parkingjisung: ffffffffffffffffffffff

prettyboitae: f

gay-chan: LOL FEELSBAD

hyunjeans: mayhaps that hurt a lil

woojinnie:

minnie-seungie: why are you like this

soobean: wait it's minho  
soobean: are we surprised

hyunjeans: gotta point there

je-nochill: nope

haechannie: no

prettyboitae: well shit

woojinnie: yeah no

loooocass:

loooocass: i'm dying lmao

NAahjaemin: w o w  
NAahjaemin: we're a mess

mean-ho:

  
  
soobin exited the chat as the bell chimed to signal the end of the period, stopping for a second to mute his notifications before putting his stuff away. if he hadn't muted it, they'd be blowing up his phone all day.

but his next class was also with felix again; at least it was art and he had it with a few other friends.

it was a beginner's level art class, but they weren't expecting the teacher to actually hand them a coloring page and take out a box of crayons.

felix shouted, "are we five-?!"

kai dropped a textbook onto the table he sat at with soobin, causing a loud thud to sound through the room. there were a few screams, and chaos let out.

"i'm gonna die," kai wailed dramatically and threw himself into soobin's arms.

soobin caught youngmin's eyes from across the room, and he wiggled his eyebrows at the exchange between kai and soobin.

"ew get off," soobin shoved kai away.

"this is gay," the red-haired woojin pointed at the coloring page. "i'm not coloring in cinderella. at least give me mulan; i have standards to be met."

hyunjin held up his coloring page. "omg! i got the pink princess, yes!"

"i got you," kai placed the page in front of soobin.

soobin looked at kai with fire in his eyes. "how dare you; that is officer judy hopps from zootopia. she's cuter."

"oh my god, you uncultured swine," came hyunjin's shout from two tables away. "ariel doesn't have purple hair!"

"shut up and color nemo already," felix snapped back.

hyunjin corrected, "that's flounder. i hate you."

"fite me," felix replied.

soobin smacked his head against the table. "i would just like peace and quiet for five seconds; why is that impossible at this school?"

kai shrugged. "pass me the cerulean crayon."

"'please'?" soobin gave kai a look.

"no."

soobin handed kai the cerulean crayon.

hyunjin yelled, "so what? i can like a pink princess and not the color pink!"

"that doesn't make sense," changbin argued across the table.

"your behavior is so- uGH," hyunjin threw an eraser.

changin swiftly dodged and stood up, exclaiming, "oh-! yellow cardeu, yellow cardeu!"

soobin was pretty sure he saw the teacher cross himself and take a shot of liquor before stuffing earplugs in his ears.

"hey, have you talked to yeonjun-hyung lately," kai asked.

"he talked in the groupchat," soobin answered.

"but did you talk to him? or, at least see him in the morning? he was crying."

soobin was quiet. so yeonjun _had_ cried. why? did he think soobin was expelled? did it even have anything to do with him at all?

"but beomgyu said yeonjunie was drawing patrick on the board in their last class," soobin said defensively. "he seems okay now."

after some time, kai said pointedly, "ya know, if you care about yeonjun enough to give him your sweater when you hate sharing clothes, maybe you should at least ask him if he's okay. just saying."

soobin begrudgingly took out his phone and looked for yeonjun's instagram messages.

he faltered. the last few had been so long ago.

_3w ago_

**junie-choi**

he opened them up anyway, and decided to be simple.

soobean: hey

he turned back to his coloring page and left his phone on the desk, so he could see if it lit up again.

it did not.

once it was lunch time, soobin stood in the breadline and clicked his phone on and off, swiping through his notifications to see if he missed yeonjun's reply.

no, he didn't. there was no reply.

he got to the tree they usually sat at just as yeonjun was arriving with beomgyu.

taehyun and kai were already sitting down, and yeonjun exclaimed, "guys! beomgyu is so strong now! look, he can carry me!"

yeonjun jumped onto beomgyu's back. poor beomgyu let out an "oof" but stayed on his feet; what a trooper.

"wow, gyu is so strong~" yeonjun made a point to marvel at beomgyu's strength dramatically.

soobin felt that yeonjun had been hanging around beomgyu a little more than usual lately, and for some weird reason he didn't know, he was pissed off about it.

yeonjun said suddenly, "oh! my math class is setting the trip to the theme park next week! and i apparently get to take someone with me!"

taehyun replied quickly, "face it, i'm the math whiz; you need me there."

"the whole point is to have fun without the teacher supervision," yeonjun taunted. "you're no fun."

kai leaped up. "i'm fun!" he started running around and screaming.

yeonjun made a sour face. "you hate me."

beomgyu widened his eyes. "i don't hate you."

"true," yeonjun nodded solemnly as if this was a very convincing argument.

and soobin didn't want to know why his insides were twisting and knotting. he just sighed, got up, mumbled a lame excuse about leaving, and shuffled off to find some of his other friends.

if yeonjun was going to be like that, soobin wasn't going to stick around for it.

while watching soobin's retreating figure in the distance, yeonjun got a wistful look on his face and felt the sadness overtake him in waves.

this didn't feel right at all. 

|| author's note: hope y'all can see the images🥺


	10. ₁₀ | play peacemaker

"just, don't drop the baby," yeonjun finished, turning to look at the class in front of them.

soobin did awkward jazz hands and daehwi shook his head.

the teacher sighed and said, "well, it wasn't as bad as i thought it would be. thank you for going first. you may sit down now."

the class erupted in noise again as they decided whether or not their group was going to go next. 

"why did we go first," daehwi groaned.

yeonjun crossed his arms across his chest, frowning. soobin rubbed his temples, and said, "that was the worst presentation ever."

"it would have been better if you had spoken your part out loud instead of freezing up and making me do it," yeonjun snapped.

soobin argued, "i told you, i can't do presentations in front of people. i'm still shaking, and i barely even said my name."

"anyway," daehwi diverted the conversation in hopes of avoiding another argument, "what are your plans for winter break?"

"are you joking?" yeonjun raised an eyebrow. "it's not even november yet."

"so?" daehwi said defensively, "thinking of winter break is the only thing keeping me from going insane and burning down this place."

yeonjun smoldered. "you'd actually do that, wouldn't you?"

"be nice," soobin found himself warning yeonjun, and actually putting a hand on his arm as if holding him back.

yeonjun stopped with the mean looks and went silent, which surprised soobin. daehwi kept his eyes on the clock in the room, silently counting down the minutes until the class would be over.

when the bell rang to end the period, everyone rushed out the door, but yeonjun and soobin were the only ones that slowly got up.

"hey, daehwi, why is everyone running?" soobin stopped the redhead before he could also rush out the door.

daehwi asked in an incredulous tone, "did you not pay attention to the assembly?"

soobin swallowed a lump in his throat. "uh, well... see, it's not _my_ fault my teammates were talking the whole time," he sputtered defensively.

daehwi sighed and shook his head. yeonjun walked up to them and stared directly at soobin's face, a pouty look on his own.

"if we get to our dorms directly after school, and stay in them until school the next day, for a whole week, the principal said he can give us some after school privileges for those with good grades and stuff," daehwi explained, "you know, the kind of privileges mostly those in their last year get."

soobin nodded and thanked daehwi for the information. the three of them walked out of the classroom, but daehwi actually ran off and left soobin and yeonjun behind.

"do you think the security guards will actually check if each dorm has the people it should?" soobin looked to yeonjun.

yeonjun thought for a second. "what are you suggesting?"

soobin said nonchalantly, "well, uh, nothing, really..."

yeonjun hopped up and down. "come on, that's really mean; now i'm super curious!! so, it's not my birthday, and it's not christmas yet- tell me-!"

there actually _was_ nothing planned. a few minutes later, they lay together on soobin's bed, arms around each other, laughing about their memories of their childhood together.

soobin just didn't want anyone walking in and seeing that.

"omg, remember the bike?" yeonjun laughed. "i'm still _so_ sorry."

soobin shook his head. "it took me months to even look at a bike again."

yeonjun poked soobin's chest. "well it wasn't _my_ fault; i was going through my bossy phase."

see, "the bike thing" was awhile ago, when soobin was about 6 and yeonjun had just turned 7.

he'd told soobin to ride his bike from the top of his house's driveway to the bottom. soobin had obliged only because he knew yeonjun was older and he had to listen. the driveway wasn't steep but it caused the bike to go at a pretty scary speed to a six year old, and soobin had fallen off the bike and scraped up his knee.

despite how hurt he was, soobin had not told on yeonjun and instead blamed himself. soobin's father had gotten him into a lot of trouble, and it had been ever since that soobin was unreasonably afraid of getting into any kind of trouble with his parents.

yeonjun said quietly, "i was so surprised you even listened to me."

soobin laughed a little. "i guess i've just always been stupid."

yeonjun giggled and agreed, "a real idiot."

and then everything felt okay, for now. 

\- 2 months later -

*jisung and minho were only suspended   
but i'm too lazy to go back and change it ;-;*

"oh my god it's so cold," kai screeched as he caught up with the group.

yeonjun angled his head to the side. "y'all are overreacting. it's not that cold."

"s-says you," beomgyu shivered.

yeonjun was dressed in a fuzzy sweater and soobin's hoodie over it; there was also a beanie on his head and he wore sweats.

soobin wanted to laugh. yeonjun looked hilarious in the multiple layers, waddling around.

taehyun was wearing an ugly christmas sweater that depicted a smiling snowman, although taehyun himself was not smiling. "at least it's the last day of school before winter break," he admitted, "i'm ready to end this dumbass year."

kai asked, "can't we leave and go home like, right after school?"

"i guess," soobin shrugged.

yeonjun shook his head. "there's a big event after school, guys. we have to go."

"aw but i wanted to be anti-social," taehyun whined.

yeonjun argued, "everyone is going to be there. apparently some guys are even taking dates from the girl's school nearby."

beomgyu asked, "c-can w-we just n-not go?" he was still shivering, and his nose was red and cold.

"pleaseeeee guys," yeonjun begged. "it won't be the same without you."

they eventually ended up agreeing, and soon after parted ways because the bell chimed to go to class.

throughout the day it was impossible for the teachers to calm the students, and the usually rowdy ones were even crazier than normal, if we can say that.

once it was lunch, soobin already felt hopped up on holiday spirit.

seungmin stopped him in the hallway. "hey, soobin; merry christmas!" he handed soobin a treat bag that seemed to be filled with candy.

"aw, thanks, seungmin," soobin grinned. "i didn't get you anything, but merry christmas!"

seungmin leaned in and whispered, "there's some mistletoe in there in case you need it, if you know what i mean."

and with that, he raced down the hall, before soobin could protest.

he walked outside, and managed to find himself in the midst of daehwi and his group.

woong exclaimed, "soobin! are you going to the party thing after school?"

"yeah," soobin answered.

daehwi joked, "woojin's dragging youngmin to it."

"nuh uh; you'd better shut up, or i'm gonna deck _your_ halls," youngmin threatened.

it had been awhile since youngmin had finally begun to talk with soobin around, and it was then that soobin realized how much of a crackhead the elder was.

"well shit, why did they hang mistletoe around; we're an all-boys' school. that's gay," woojin grumbled.

"you say everything's gay," donghyun argued with a grin.

"okay hyungs, sorry, i have to go," soobin tried to get out of the group nicely. "merry christmas! see you guys at the party."

"wait! not so fast," woong latched onto soobin's arm. "are you bringing june? are we finally gonna get to meet her?"

soobin cringed. "uh, actually-"

daehwi sighed and backed down. "nah woong, let's let him be. i bet june doesn't even exist anyway."

"what are you saying?" soobin looked to daehwi and asked, "you really think there's no way i could get a girl to be my fan?" it sounded wrong, even in his own mind, but ever since joining the soccer team, soobin had gotten to be pretty competitive and argumentative.

so, see, it wasn't _his_ fault-

"no, i just think june doesn't seem like she's real; she only leaves notes and no one has ever seen _her_ ," daehwi raised an eyebrow.

"alright, let's back down a little now," donghyun tried to make peace.

woojin sighed in an aggravated way. "there's such an easy way to fix this. soobin, just bring her to the party at school today. girls are allowed to come over, and many of them are coming as dates too, anyway. there; better?"

youngmin smacked woojin's shoulder lightly.

"awe shit, what now?!"

but before youngmin could explain the queasy look on soobin's face, he sprinted off, away from their group.

what was he going to do now?

"a real idiot" indeed.


	11. ₁₁ | june > yeonjun

"and that's why i need your help," soobin finished.

yeonjun looked at him with wide eyes. he'd been dragged from passing period to his math class to here; he certainly didn't mind missing math class, but with the terrified look in soobin's eyes he'd been scared, too.

and now there was this whole mess, a big reason to be afraid.

they were back in the janitor's closet again, but this time with a different purpose to it than the usual.

"so you're meaning to tell me that now daehwi and your other friends think you're bringing june to the dance today, and that's somehow indirectly my fault so i have to help?" yeonjun looked at soobin incredulously.

soobin hummed, "well, technically, they wouldn't even know about june if you hadn't..."

"alright, alright, i get it," yeonjun grumbled. "well, how are we gonna fix this then?"

soobin thought for a second. "i actually really don't know. that's also kinda why i need your help."

yeonjun crossed his arms across his chest. suddenly, probably something to do with the way he was standing, an idea burst into soobin's mind.

in the dim light of the closet, yeonjun could see soobin's ears turn pink. he immediately had a bad feeling.

soobin mumbled, "maybe we could have you dress up... like june-?"

"abso-fucking-lutely not," yeonjun cussed. "that's a terrible idea."

"well it's the only idea we have," soobin argued.

yeonjun stared fiercely at soobin. 'you could just come clean about us, coward,' he thought to himself. but he didn't say it out loud. why? because he knew why.

instead yeonjun sighed, "let me spell it out why this would be a bad idea. gyu and the others think i'm gonna be there; i basically begged them to go because i would. second, daehwi's gonna recognize me for sure! thirdly, even if they don't recognize me, how would be explain how similar _june_ and yeon _jun_ look??"

"june could be like a secret twin sister you never told anyone about," soobin explained. "or, maybe you don't even know about her?"

yeonjun stared at him angrily. "there is no way anyone will fall for this. i doubt there is anyone we know that would be stupid enough to think-"

"yah, you big baby, let's sneak out and get you clothes to dress you up already," soobin insisted. he grabbed yeonjun's hand and led him out of the dim closet and into the fluorescent lights of the hallway.

and maybe it was a trick of the harsh lights, but soobin could have sworn he saw yeonjun blush and hide a smile.

* * *

"do i seriously have to wear this," yeonjun frowned as he stared at the pink, willowy dress.

soobin groaned. "for the 50th time, we finally decided on this one because it shows off your soccer legs; just put it on already!"

yeonjun hid another smile. he felt a little giddy, who knew why?

anyway, after squeezing the dress on, apparently he also had to wear heels, a wig, and uh, makeup.

"i feel like a drag queen," yeonjun made a face of disgust as he stared at the compacts of glittery makeup, which they had taken from the things that girls left behind in their school. he slid on the wig of long, dark brown hair. "this covers up my beautiful blue raspberry hair..."

a shame, indeed.

soobin opened one up. "i don't even know on what part of your face this goes on," he said in an overwhelmed tone.

"can we please get a girl to help us with this," yeonjun begged. "i'd rather no one knows about this but i really don't trust you with that near my face."

"where are we going to find a girl to help us this late already?" soobin scoffed, "you took forever in the dress shop and you keep complaining like a big baby-"

"soobin choi i swear to god, you'd better go out and find a girl to come and help me or i'll take this off right now," yeonjun threatened.

"yes," soobin gulped and hurried out the door of their dorm room.

well shit, where to find a girl willing to help at this hour?

the dance was being held at the gym, so soobin figured he'd start there. hopefully the girls would be feeling nice.

"hey, soobin!"

soobin turned around quickly. he recognized woojin park, the redhead that was not on the soccer team, run up to him, dragging a younger girl by the arm.

"i wanted you to meet my sister, yerim," woojin introduced.

she waved slightly. "hi..."

while greeting, soobin pondered. could yerim be able to help? how could he get her away from woojin without looking like a creep?

wait- that didn't sound right-

suddenly, woojin made it easy. "could you watch her for a bit? i don't want her getting into trouble with the guys here, but daehwi declared a fashion emergency and apparently i have to help him. i promise i'll try to finish as quick as-"

"yeah, sure i will," soobin cut in. "good luck!"

woojin rolled his eyes. "daehwi's gonna tear me apart i guess, but thanks!"

as soon as woojin had disappeared, soobin turned to yerim. "do you know how to do makeup?"

she looked at him with wide eyes, blinking a bit before answering softly, "y-yes..? why?"

soobin pleaded, "could you help me with something? but you have to promise not to tell anyone about it."

yerim nodded and soobin led her back toward the dorm, opening the door to a pacing yeonjun.

"i found someone," he announced. "this is woojin's sister. he's daehwi's friend."

yeonjun sighed with relief. "can you do my makeup-?"

she looked at him with confusion.

"please," soobin and yeonjun asked in unison.

when there was still no answer, soobin said quickly, "it's really hard to explain."

but instead, yerim sighed with the weight of the world, and looked weary, as if she had seen this many times before?

"let's see what you have to work with," she walked over to yeonjun and the makeup beside him. "wait, no way. this is your makeup?!"

"it's all stuff from a lost and found," yeonjun defended. he didn't know why he felt so defensive about makeup that wasn't even his, but- what can you do?

yerim held up one of the items. "this concealer doesn't match your skin tone. you're clearly an olive and this is for way lighter skin tone."

"i'm gonna pretend i understood that," soobin nodded, and sat down on the other side of yeonjun to watch curiously.

"look, we're about the same tone so i'll let you borrow mine just for this once," she shook her head and opened up her bag, which unsnapped to become a pouch full of makeup. "wait, i should probably tell you how unsanitary it is to share makeup-"

"yerim, was it," yeonjun interrupted. "yerim, does this look like someone who cares..?"

"right. okay, moving on.."

after such a long time of waiting and watching how many layers of makeup went onto yeonjun's face, soobin wondered why it took so long to do this. was this why girls were always rumored to take longer to get ready? then he saw the end product and felt astonished.

yeonjun looked nothing like himself.

well, there were a few ways to tell, if you know it's yeonjun under all that makeup, which is when he starts to look similar.

but now he looked like a whole new person.

and yerim finally put the last brush down and said, "okay, we're good now. wanna see?"

she held a mirror to yeonjun's face.

"holy shit i look like a girl," he exclaimed.

"is that not the point?" yerim looked confused.

soobin turned to look at her. "how did you know?"

she pointed, "he's wearing a wig and a dress. there are heels over there. i figured it had to do something with that."

"it's a really long story," soobin began.

"-that i don't want to hear," she finished.

soobin paused for a second. "yeah, you definitely act like your brother."

"ew, shut up," she made a face and began to pack up her things.

"thanks, yerim," yeonjun grinned.

she shrugged, "it's fine, whatever. don't make it a big deal. just, be sure not to sweat it all off, you know."

"yep, that's all woojin," soobin said again.

"i'm going to smack you if you say that one more time," yerim stared at him with a deadly look.

yeonjun sighed, "girl, don't even worry. i want to smack him about 6 times every day."

she raised an eyebrow. "now, that's kinky."

"oh my god, shut up," yeonjun widened his eyes. "not like that!"

"definitely woojin's sister," soobin whispered to himself, for fear of getting a double smackdown from the other angry two.

she picked up her phone and smiled as she checked her lockscreen and then announced that she wanted to go back to the dance. "i bet woojin forgot i'm here," she rolled her eyes before walking back out the door again.

yeonjun smiled. "she seems like she'd make a good friend."

soobin slid closer to yeonjun. now that it was about to happen, he wasn't so sure of this whole plan. so he asked tentatively, "are you ready for this?"

yeonjun pondered for a second. "no, but we are way too much into this to back out now," he insisted. "now, pass me those shoes and let's get going already!"

they had really taken a bunch of stuff from the lost and found, and the shoes were part of this haul. who knew good things would come from there being so many girls who came over to their school?

"they don't match my dress," yeonjun complained again.

soobin raised an eyebrow. "yeonjunie, are you seriously complaining about the shoes not matching the dress when we're lucky we even found a pair that matches each other?"

once yeonjun was ready, they slowly peeked outside to the hallway. who knew if the security guards were around just waiting to get people in trouble. luckily, there weren't.

soobin and yeonjun- well, june now, i guess- walked all the way to the gym for the dance. this was were june gasped, "oh my god, my feet are killing me. how am i supposed to wear these all night?!"

"they can't be that bad, you big baby," soobin shook his head. "they aren't even tall heels. jimin hyung wears taller _insoles_ than that."

"true."

inside the gymnasium, there were people roaming around and music playing quietly.

they recognized kai with taehyun and beomgyu, all three dressed formally, because of the complaint they heard, "this is so boring-!"

a few steps closer and they heard taehyun argue, "kai, this is just until more people get here. besides, we promised yeonjun hyung we'd stay."

"oh, so now they call me hyung, when they're not around me," june grumbled.

"they're gonna be so mad you're not here," soobin laughed.

"technically, i _am,"_ june argued.

beomgyu pointed at soobin while he was busy talking to june and motioned to taehyun and kai.

taehyun said incredulously, "soobin hyung is here with a girl."

"soobin hyung is _talking_ to a girl," kai corrected, "without throwing up."

beomgyu shook his head. "who is she? he never told us about any girl before."

taehyun looked at kai, saying, "i guess your theory was wrong."

"i could still be right," kai defended, "maybe she's just his friend."

"why don't we go over and see," beomgyu suddenly departed from their group.

and so, while in the middle of a conversation, soobin suddenly froze. "they're coming over," he looked at beomgyu, kai, and taehyun.

june looked nervous.

beomgyu arrived and spoke first. "hey, soobin hyung. who's this?" he turned to survey june angrily.

soobin motioned robotically. "this is june."

"ooh, i have a question," kai brought his hand up. "who's june?"

oh, right. it had seemed like so many other people knew about june that they had just figured everyone knew.

luckily, june explained, "i like watching soobin play; i leave him notes sometimes."

taehyun said quietly, "that's not creepy."

beomgyu smiled. "aw, that's cute."

kai then interjected, "you look familiar; have we seen you before? which school do you go to? the girl one nearby?"

"uh, yeah, that one," june replied nervously.

soobin then turned to the trio. "guys, have you seen yeonjun?"

"no," taehyun answered.

"honestly, we thought he was with you," kai shrugged.

"so, uh, soobin hyung, she's your date," beomgyu asked the question in a harsh whisper, which was not so quiet.

soobin caught june's eyes. "yeah. june's my date."

it was hard to tell under all the makeup, but mayhaps june smiled.

taehyun grabbed onto kai's arm. "i think we should probably leave them alone, guys. let's keep looking for yeonjun hyung."

the three left, and slowly but surely, the gym started filling up with people.

the music started playing louder, and soon, it was hard to hold a conversation.

soobin excused himself to go to the bathroom, leaving june alone.

he walked over to the snack section because why not; he figured he deserved it for having to stuff himself into this ridiculous getup.

june was collecting cookies on a stupid, red, plastic plate when another girl came up and coughed, interrupting, "a moment on the lips, forever on the hips, honey. you sure you want those cookies?"

"i'm curvy, and i like it," june exclaimed, locking eyes with her while grabbing two more cookies.

the other girl sighed. "just sayin'; you're probably here with a sports boy, and that's not the way to keep him."

"well mine's not an asshat," june replied, then whispered to himself, "sometimes."  
  
she turned to look him up and down. "who are you here with, anyway?"

"oh, i'm here with soobin," june finally replied. "he's on the soccer team."

she nodded. "right, i know him."

june tried to swallow a lump in his throat. really? how did she _know_ him?

"what school are you from," she asked, pouring another cup of punch.

june said in an exasperated tone, "wow, you're really curious, huh?! i'm just gonna take my cookies and go."

he grabbed the plate and sped off with it, beginning to stress-eat, shoveling cookies by the mouthful. june had never liked girls, not since the beginning. they somehow scared him. 

because he wasn't looking where he was going, june suddenly crashed into someone, someone who didn't budge an inch from the force. 

june's cookies fell off the plate and crumbled on the floor. "aw heck," he cursed, then looked up.

"what the h-"


	12. ₁₂ | everybody hates june

"what the h-"

"you dropped my cookies," june frowned at the silver-haired boy in front of him. there were cookie crumbs all over his dress and, to be frank, inside in some uncomfortable places, too.

he replied angrily, "that's it; i'm done with you preppy bitches-"

"calm down, donghyun!" a smaller boy latched onto his arm. "i'm sure she was sorry!!"

"woong, i swear to god, you'd better not thank her for almost running over you while she stuffed her fat face-"

"excuse me," june furrowed his eyebrows. "this _she_ with the _fat face_ has feelings, and you just hurt them."

"aw, i'm _sorry_ ," donghyun said sarcastically. "ha, that the same thing you would have said to woong?"

woong exclaimed, "hyunie! just because the other girls were rude doesn't mean she's going to be! maybe she was going to apologize and you interrupted her by being a rudeass!!"

june smiled. he liked woong. he turned to look at the taller, scary one. he did not like donghyun.

"hey, june!!" soobin latched onto june's arm and asked nervously, "what are you doing? i've been looking for you everywhere! the girls are talking about-" his eyes widened at the mess of crumbs all over the floor and june's dress.

"oh, this is june?" woong skipped up to june and hugged him tightly in an unexpected greeting. "hi!! can i just say, i totally knew you were real, even if daehwi said soobin was lying. soobin doesn't lie! haha, daehwi's going to be so surprised! he's usually right about this stuff."

june looked at woong with wide eyes, then at soobin. so the scary donghyun guy was one of those delinquent people soobin hung out with? he was right to be scared for soobin.

soobin faltered. "u-uh, yes, woong-hyung, this is june. sorry for not introducing her earlier."

donghyun was quiet up until then, when he apologized out of the blue. "i'm sorry, june. it's just.. a lot of people tend to pick on woong, and many of them get violent or hurt his feelings, and i just... i'm really defensive."

before june could say anything, soobin asked, "what did you do?"

"i-" june began angrily, but then stopped when he realized soobin had meant that for donghyun..?

donghyun sighed. "sorry, dude. you know how i am. after what happened at our last school, i would never let that happen again. woong's still scared of his own shadow."

"am not, you dick," woong said angrily.

donghyun smiled and angled his head. "i apologize. he's apparently not."

soobin turned to look at june. he explained, "yeah, sorry june. donghyun's like that. he almost ripped my face off the first time we met too; i almost stepped on woong."

"thanks for saying sorry," woong chimed in.

"woong, i swear to-"

"can we go get me more cookies," june asked soobin, widening his eyes in an attempt for cuteness.

soobin flushed a little and stuttered, "u-uh, y-yeah, sure. l-let's... go..."

woong waved, "bye june! you guys are adorable together!!"

as they walked away, june nudged soobin. "you hear that? we're 'adorable together'."

"don't need to rub it in my face so much," soobin grumbled, but allowed june to latch onto his arm while he led the way back to the snack table.

"and, what were you saying before?" june looked to soobin. "something about the girls..?"

soobin nodded. "a lot of the girls are talking about, and these are their words, not mine, 'the rude bitch at the snack table stuffing her face with cookies and obviously that's why her thighs are so fat'."

"and you figured that was me," june supplied in an even tone.

"nuh uh," soobin defended, "they also said her name was june."

"aw, heck," june mumbled, "so now the preppy bitches are after me."

"geez," soobin winced, "you don't have to group them all together like that. _some_ girls are nice."

"never in my life have i ever had a good experience with a girl," june insisted, but decided to shut up for now.

for now.

they arrived at the snack table and june happily snapped up cookies again.

"ew, omg," soobin backed away. "the punch has _alcohol_ in it. we're all _minors_ at this school, for heaven's sake."

"can't say i'm surprised." june sighed, and grabbed another cookie.

"really? back for more?" the girl from before stood right beside june, and this time, she had friends.

soobin intervened. "come on, june; let's go. i think i saw daehwi over there; we can leave quickly after we say hi."

june pushed soobin's hand away. "i should say the same to you. really girl? you actually came to look for me; at this point you seem like you have a crush on me."

"please; i have standards," she held up her hand, "unlike your boyfriend over here. honey, you're flatter than a sheet of paper."

"yike," someone said nearby.

soobin wanted to intervene, but he was honestly scared of the look on june's face right now.

"oh heck no," june pushed up the sleeves of his dress. "maybe you might wanna turn the other way next time you talk, because yo breath stank."

a girl grabbed her arm. "let's just go; she's a nobody."

"yo guys!!" a familiar voice slurred, "that juice is amazingggg.."

june and soobin turned their heads to find jungkook dragging a very drunk taehyung.

"do **_not_** try the punch," jungkook said forcibly.

"wasn't planning on it," soobin insisted.

"who's this?"

june looked over at the girls from before, who were staring wide-eyed at them. apparently they couldn't believe a "nobody" was talking to _the_ jungkook.

soobin spoke shyly, "uh, jungkook hyung, this is june."

"one second," june held up a finger sweetly. he turned to look at the girls again. "okay, if i wanted to kill myself, i'd take a jump from your ego to your iq."

he looked back at the trio again and smiled.

jungkook looked at her and whistled. "good luck with that, dude. anyway, i'm trying to get him to eat to see if that helps the drunk part. usually namjoon helps me with this, but i can't find him or jimin. have you guys seen them?"

soobin shook his head.

jungkook sighed and thanked them anyway. he walked taehyung over to the food and tried to get him to eat, with very little success.

"we have to show you to daehwi, so we can leave before you get yourself into a fight," soobin grabbed june's hand.

june tugged his hand away. "let me; i can take them!"

"that's the problem," soobin argued, then realized it wasn't going to be easy to get june away. he decided to go ahead and pick him up; literally.

"put me down," june gasped. "what the heck!"

soobin kept walking. he had june thrown over his shoulder, kicking wildly.

"fine, okay, i'll be a good june! put me down," he also resulted to smacking soobin's shoulder a few times and wriggling around in his grasp.

"you're gonna flash everyone," soobin informed him calmly.

june stopped struggling and instead held on reluctantly.

"okay, i see daehwi. i'm gonna go over right now; i'm ready for this nightmare to be over," soobin spoke mostly to himself.

as he walked over though, june said, "nightmare. you don't like this?"

soobin faltered for a second. "n-no, i just... i don't really like parties." he slowed down his pace.

"you were just at one with your friends a few months ago where they got suspended but whatever," june mumbled.

soobin stopped and put june down. "what are you saying?"

"this was like, our first date ever, and i even dressed up as a girl and you just want to get it over with," june finally spoke his mind.

and damn it, it felt good.

soobin was silent for a second.

"oh my god, soobin!"

daehwi appeared beside them, smiling from ear to ear. "i just heard from some kids that a _celebrity_ is performing _here_ in a bit; let's go closer! i'm _so_ ready to stan!!"

soobin stuttered a little. "actually, i wanted you to meet june-"

"okay," daehwi looked at june studiously. "impressive. she doesn't look awkward at all."

"what are you trying to say," june narrowed his eyes.

daehwi looked at soobin, then at june. "do you really know soobin? or are you pretending to be _june_?"

june's eyes widened. "of course i know him."

daehwi held his hands up. "okay, fine. what do you know about jungkook?"

soobin stepped in. "hey, i think that's enough."

"i'm just saying; a lot of girls from the school nearby are just interested in that jungkook kid," daehwi motioned.

"oh my god, dude!" yerim suddenly strode into their circle. "have you not been touching up your makeup?!"

june said nothing, frozen in place.

woojin appeared as well, and asked, "what? yerim, what are you talking about?"

june turned to yerim. he put on a puppy-like expression and asked, "could you help me?"

she sighed, "you're helpless. let's go."

"whatever that was about," daehwi made a face.

woojin let out a tired breath. "honestly, i've just been following yerim all around this gym. i haven't even gotten a chance to say hi to anyone. i think she's trying to shake me."

daehwi raised an eyebrow. he then transitioned, "speaking of which, where's youngmin?"

"i thought he was with you," woojin exclaimed.

"well, _obviously_ , he's not. maybe he's with donghyun and woong," daehwi reasoned.

"no, june and i just saw them. youngmin wasn't there," soobin told them.

woojin wondered out loud, "did that brat not show up?"

"that _brat_ is older than you, but whatever." daehwi rolled his eyes. "if you guys are going to be boring and not come with me, then i'll go on my own. i'll have first dibs," he tried to entice them.

"if i was a youngmin, where would i go," woojin murmured to himself, looking thoughtful.

soobin shrugged. then he asked seriously, "do you think it would be weird if i stood outside of the bathroom to wait for june and yerim?"

"relationships. ugh," daehwi shook his head and kept walking.

"dude, that would be so weird," woojin argued. "just wait here. wait- is june your girlfriend or something?"

"that's... really hard to explain," soobin answered honestly.

woojin then asked, "seriously though, do you think youngmin didn't show up?"

"he could have, but... i do think there might be a small chance he didn't," soobin nodded.

they made small talk for a bit, where soobin learned that woojin was actually captain of the wrestling team, which was no small feat because it was the one team jungkook was on and not the captain of.

june and yerim finally showed up, laughing and talking about something.

woojin chastised his sister. "dude, you took forever."

yerim shoved her brother. "dude, you took forever," she copied woojin in a higher, whiny tone.

while the siblings were arguing, june looked to soobin. "where's daehwi? i don't think he's convinced enough. maybe we should try again," he said worriedly.

soobin shook his head. "nah. leave daehwi be. you, uh... wanna dance?"

june was surprised. "w-what? i thought..."

"a little birdie made me realize this was our first date, and i kinda feel like maybe i haven't exactly been the best boyfriend today," soobin said with the guilt palpable on his face. he then added, "and, you know, i don't really like dancing-"

"fine, i'll take it," june answered. "let's go, so i can beat you at dancing."

as june dragged him away, soobin argued, "well, that's not really what dancing is about-"

but, as they walked away, they had not known what yerim had just told her brother.

woojin looked to yerim. "but soobin said that was june. she's that one girl that likes him."

"are you stupid or are you stupid?" yerim shook her head. "not in a million years would that guy ever pass for a girl. he doesn't look like one."

"well, he fooled me," woojin shrugged.

"the thing is, why did he dress up like a girl? and why are they pretending he's one," yerim asked thoughtfully.

woojin softly punched his sister. "dude, don't go prying into people's lives. so a dude wants to dress up like a girl. leave him be."

"i dunno... it's fishy," yerim said, mostly to herself, but dropped the subject.

ᶥᶥ

out on the dance floor, soobin was awkwardly moving around while june, very obviously, beat him at dancing. soobin hid his face in embarrassment.

their three friends showed up though, having recognized them before soobin hid his face - and, anyway, how could soobin hide in the middle of a dance floor with his 6'2" height?

beomgyu cheered. "omg, soobin hyung, she's really good at dancing!"

"i would so rather be hiding in a corner right now," taehyun looked around the room nervously.

soobin informed them, "i have no idea how, but june's beat me in dancing, apparently."

"oh, so it's a competition?" taehyun perked up. "in that case, i have one of the highest scores in just dance 2019; you wanna go? let's go then."

june took up the competition, and soon beomgyu and taehyun had joined in the wild dancing.

kai smiled awkwardly. "if i don't dance, will i look like a weirdo?"

"probably," soobin nodded.

kai began to dance as well.

beomgyu grinned, "i bet if yeonjun hyung were here, he'd be so mad and trying to beat her."

june widened his eyes again slightly but laughed it off nervously. "sure.."

"yeah, soobin, you have to get yeonjun hyung to meet her," taehyun insisted.

kai looked to june and soobin in turn. "true. i think yeonjun hyung and june would get along."

june laughed, "uh... who's this yeonjun? idk him."

"oh, yeonjun hyung is one of our friends," beomgyu explained. "maybe you two should meet."

"maybe," soobin interjected. "but i don't think it matters that much."

"oh, if she's your girlfriend, it should," kai argued, smiling knowingly.

"wait-" beomgyu froze up. "is this..?!" he looked to taehyun.

taehyung smiled. "it is."

"omg, this is yeonjun hyung's song!" they shook their heads and laughed as "gashina" began to play.

soobin looked at june. apparently he'd forgotten that he was not "himself", because he was starting to dance the special choreography that everyone knew he danced to this song.

before someone could see, soobin grabbed june's hand and yanked him closer, but apparently misjudged his strength, because then june's lips touched his.


	13. ₁₃ | yeonjun is a terrible liar

ew.

soobin had a shoe on his face.

how might an individual who was just trying to be a good boyfriend, such as soobin, get into a situation like this, you might ask?

well, it all started with yeonjun using june to guilt soobin into another date-

"come _on_ ," yeonjun grumbled, laying back on soobin's bed.

"hang _on_ ," soobin laughed and chided him. "we've barely been home for like three days and you're already ready to leave."

"honey, i love my family, but the whole of christmas eve and christmas is already too much time to be spending with them," yeonjun scoffed.

soobin frowned as he laced up his converse. "actually, now that i think about it, i doubt my parents would let me leave right now; my mom will probably ask me to drive with my dad to pick up my aunt-"

"sue, it'll just be for an hour or so, _max_ ," yeonjun eyed him in a bored manner. "i doubt your parents will even notice you're gone." he stayed quiet for a few seconds, and then burst in with the phrase that had become repetitive for the last month- "i mean, you don't have to go; after all, it's not like i dressed up as june for you-"

"oKAY, i'm going," soobin interjected. he stood up and angled his head. "let's get this _bbang_."

and so, that was how soobin ended up going with yeonjun to the shopping mall, where there were hundreds of people, just for the sake of wanting to go on a normal date for once.

secretly, yeonjun also wanted to show soobin that their relationship was totally normal and there was nothing to be scared of.

but, of course, he couldn't tell soobin that.

as they walked down a corridor where there were less people, yeonjun looked around nonchalantly and faked a yawn and a stretch, before slipping his hand into soobin's.

soobin flinched slightly at the sudden contact, but didn't let go. he smiled slightly and actually blushed while they kept walking. yeonjun started swinging their hands lightly, grinning.

an older woman sitting by herself on a bench narrowed her eyes at them, but yeonjun hurriedly turned soobin in the other direction before he could notice.

nope, no negative vibes here.

"oh, look! it's the shop taehyun said he likes going to," yeonjun pointed out.

soobin raised an eyebrow. "and you want to go there..?"

yeonjun nodded. "why not?"

"i mean, there's a bakery not too far down this path-"

"we spend two minutes in there and then we'll go get you food," yeonjun said decisively, then pulled soobin into the record shop.

"he's gonna spend way longer than two minutes," soobin realized to himself as soon as yeonjun let go of his hand to run straight to the r&b section.

soobin decided to wander about the shop until yeonjun was finally fed up with his excitement. he looked over each artist and genre he passed, to see if he knew them.

oh, maybe he could go ahead and buy taehyun's birthday present already, soobin suddenly had an idea; he walked over to the pop music section that was more likely to fit taehyun's taste.

then he lit up. "wow, a bebe rexha cd!" he really hadn't known there was going to be one. but here it was, in all its glory.

his eyes glowed as he reached out for the treasure.

wait. he stopped for a second. he had to save money for the bakery.

soobin frowned, deep in thought. bebe rexha, or _food_?

bread, to be more exact.

he could practically taste it in his mouth. he'd once chosen bread over yeonjun, just because it was that good. yeonjun still hadn't forgiven him for that, but...

well, you can't find a bebe rexha cd just anywhere, soobin decided, and he had just touched the cool, plastic case with the tips of his fingertips when-

"what are you doing," yeonjun's voice cut into his dream like a record scratch.

soobin froze and stammered out, "u-uh, i... n-nothing!"

yeonjun narrowed his eyes. "you were going to waste your money on a bebe rexha cd, weren't you?" he gasped in theatrical horror. "come on, soobin; _bebe_ _rexha_?! really?!"

soobin insisted, "n-no! wait!" he moved back. "june, it's not what you think!" then his eyes landed on the album in yeonjun's arms. he also gasped, placing a hand on his chest, and used the other to point an accusing finger at the evidence, "and you; kendrick lamar?!"

yeonjun said defensively, "i-i was only looking! i wasn't gonna buy it!"

"yo, guys-" woojin suddenly appeared. "oh."

soobin and yeonjun paused their arguments to see their soccer teammate standing beside them in a uniform that detailed him as a store clerk of the shop.

"why are you guys arguing so loudly over cd's," woojin laughed good-naturedly.

yeonjun asked slowly, "you... work here?"

"yeah," woojin proudly signaled to his name badge. "i thought you guys were some random kids; i just about to kick you out, haha."

soobin laughed nervously, "oh, no need. we were just about to leave-"

"oh, wait!" woojin held out his arms as if to block soobin's path.

however, his normally tall 5'11" height seemed puny next to the monster over 6 feet that soobin was, so he technically really could not totally block him from leaving.

but, luckily, woojin spoke quickly. "we have a sale going on for those who buy two cd's! a-and, i can use my employee discount to bring that price down even more!"

and yeonjun was certainly not one to turn down a discount.

while they were in the middle of paying, woojin laughed gleefully, "this will be the first time i use my discount on someone other than me."

"w- really?" yeonjun asked, "what about your other friends? you _do_ have some, right?"

soobin nudged yeonjun slightly with his elbow. oof, wrong words.

woojin waved it off. "they don't really come and buy stuff here. if they listen to music, they use chris's spotify premium. or minho's."

yeonjun raised an eyebrow. he mumbled, "could i cash in on that-? like-"

woojin shook his head. "they barely even let each other use it. felix changes the password like every _week_."

"ah, sounds like felix," soobin laughed slightly.

yeonjun was thoughtful. soobin seemed to know so much about other people than yeonjun was used to. in the past, it was yeonjun who would see his friends everywhere and soobin the awkward bystander. now it was different, flipped.

but, yeonjun admitted, it was a good different. maybe it was a little hard to admit, but yeonjun was happy that soobin was more open now.

woojin bagged their cd's and waved, "bye guys! hope you come back!"

yeonjun took the bag and waited while soobin said goodbye for them.

without missing a beat, his mind unconsciously realized that was something his parents did often, wait dutifully for the other to finish talking to their friends - married couple tingz.

 **oh**. had he really just-?

by the time soobin caught up, yeonjun was thoroughly embarrassed and wondered why his mind would even think something like that.

in an effort to forget that even happened, yeonjun asked, "are we still going to buy bread?" he looked to soobin.

soobin said in an amazed tone, "yeah, i mean, we paid so little for the cd's that i have enough money to buy food... why are we not closer friends with woojin?"

now yeonjun was annoyed. "woojin's nice to everyone," he insisted, and sped up his walking pace. why was he mad? ugh, why did he need to have a reason? yeonjun was just annoyed - without reason. it was hard to explain. can't that just happen sometimes?

but, luckily, soobin was no longer a noob at their relationship and already knew how to resolve things. he hurried his pace to catch up, and then leaned in to kiss yeonjun softly, on the cheek.

yeonjun froze. he looked in surprise at soobin, with widened eyes.

soobin looked amused. he smiled, "what?" and turned to keep walking.

yeonjun touched a hand to his face. well soobin had never done _that_ before.

and, it had been in the middle of the crowds walking around them. in public.

some people who had witnessed the exchange were actually grinning when yeonjun looked around in panic.

mayhaps this crazy idea would work. yeonjun himself smiled and ran up to soobin.

after spending another hour in the bakery, where soobin practically drooled while perusing the entire counter of glass, they decided to go back to yeonjun's house, carrying the bread he'd finally chosen at last.

they snuck into yeonjun's room in a fit of giggles, and were sitting together on yeonjun's bed awkwardly, nudging each other and giggling at their nervousness, blushing heavily.

it had been a great choice, to go on a date during the holidays, with all the decorations and people everywhere. 

yeonjun found himself staring at soobin with awe.

"what," soobin asked, before bursting into snickers and looking down at yeonjun's bed.

yeonjun decided to answer, "you kissed me. in front of a lot of people."

"it was just on the cheek," soobin shrugged, beginning to fiddle with the plastic bag that contained their cd's.

"well, i still liked it," yeonjun protested. "maybe you should try it more often."

soobin looked up and pursed his lips. "i'll think about it."

"oh, and you also kissed me at the dance," yeonjun burst out. he hadn't forgotten since that night. it was a reoccurring dream he had, too. "in front of gyu, kai, and tae."

"i kissed june in front of gyu, kai, and tae," soobin corrected.

"same difference."

"nuh-uh."

yeonjun kicked soobin softly. "stop arguing."

"no."

he sat back up and gaped at soobin. "why are you arguing? i'm hurt." yeonjun made an over-exaggerated frowny face.

soobin tried to hide a smile and apologized.

"no. if you want me to forgive you i must get cuddles," yeonjun insisted.

soobin laughed and agreed, but did not expect yeonjun to go and sit on his lap.

his laughter cut off and he cleared his throat nervously.

they were really close to each other.

yeonjun could practically hear soobin's heart rate increase.

it was sometimes fun to mess with soobin, because of how easily flustered he got. 

as a result, yeonjun was smiling evilly and slowly leaning in closer, while soobin tried to lean back, until yeonjun's mother was heard through the house calling him. 

that might not have been so bad, had she not included, "soobin's parents are asking if he's here" in her attempt to look for yeonjun.

they froze and looked at each other for a few more seconds, coming to a silent agreement.

soobin knew he'd be grounded and forbidden from seeing yeonjun if his parents knew he was there, and so did yeonjun. for some strange reason, they'd told soobin to stop going over to yeonjun's house so often during the break.

yeonjun jumped off of his bed and soobin hurriedly catapulted off, rolling to hide under it.

as yeonjun's mother's voice grew closer, yeonjun quickly attempted to help by throwing his stuff over soobin to hide him.

and that was how soobin ended up with a shoe on his face.

dIsGuStAnG. who even knew where yeonjun's shoes had been?

yeonjun had just stood up again when his mother opened the door to the room and sighed, "yeonjun. why are you not answering? were you wearing those headphones again?"

"sorry, mom," yeonjun replied quietly. he stood directly in front of her in order to - hopefully - prevent her from seeing soobin under the bed.

she huffed, "soobin's parents are here asking if soobin came over. they said he wasn't allowed to leave because they were expecting company."

"wow, so they just assumed he'd be here?" yeonjun raised an eyebrow. "soobin _has_ other friends; are they not aware?"

"yeonjun, _don't_ ," his mother said in a warning tone. "they're just concerned. he's not at their house right now."

"did they check _really_ well? sometimes he hides, you know," yeonjun shifted his weight to the other foot. "maybe if they just go through the house one more time, they'll find him." he worriedly glanced at all they stuff they'd left on his bed.

yeonjun's mom let out a deep breath. "a simple 'no' would have been enough, yeonjun." she started to stick her head into the room, but yeonjun slid to stand in front of her. "clean that room," she snapped instead, "it's a mess."

"my entire life's a mess," yeonjun mumbled as she walked away. he closed the door swiftly and turned around. "soobin, you have to go home now," he whisper-yelled.

soobin rolled out from under the bed. he brushed himself down and stood up. "do you just shove _everything_ under your bed?"

yeonjun thought for a second. "mostly, yeah. what? it's not like you don't do the same."

there was silence as they made eye contact.

"no way," yeonjun gasped, "you actually clean your room?"

"you've _been_ in my room," soobin reminded him. their voices were increasing in volume.

yeonjun argued, "well i just thought you did the same thing like me, and just put everything under your bed."

there was a creak outside yeonjun's room. they froze. the floor in yeonjun's house was wood, so the boards usually squeaked when people walked on them.

"go, go, go," yeonjun mouthed.

"m-my cd," soobin started to insist, but yeonjun threw his shoes into his hands and pushed him to the window.

"go through the window," yeonjun kept prodding soobin.

he clambered through awkwardly and fell on the ground outside with an oof.

yeonjun stuck his head out the window and laughed. "you clumsy bean."

soobin grinned and stuck a peace sign by his face as if to say "that's me" and pushed himself up. he looked around to make sure there were no witnesses and then scurried out of yeonjun's yard to rush home.

yeonjun stood up and closed his window, turning around to see his dad standing there, arms crossed across his chest and a serious expression on his face.

"dad!" yeonjun stammered, "i-i can explain, it's not what it looks like..."

yeonjun's dad hummed, "it's not? it looks like you were hiding soobin here when he wasn't supposed to leave his house, so after your mom told you his parents were looking for him, you snuck him out so he could go home."

"shit, that was spot on," yeonjun couldn't help cursing. "ok, so maybe it's what it looks like. please don't tell mom. or soobin's parents."

yeonjun's dad sighed and shook his head. "i remember when your mom used to hide me in her room too," he smiled teasingly.

"so, is that a 'no, yeonjun, i promise i won't'?" yeonjun looked hopeful.

yeonjun's dad raised his eyebrows. "i wanna keep being 'the nice dad', so i guess. i've been beating soobin's dad for years now; i can't give it up that easily."

so, they didn't get caught. though yeonjun would have preferred they be more open on what exactly they were hiding, but... good things come to those who wait.

he called beomgyu because he felt like talking to someone, but when beomgyu's greeting sounded in his ear, yeonjun realized he couldn't really just talk about what happened, not even to his best friend.

which felt really sad, but he had to respect soobin's wish to not tell anyone.

yet. he hoped there was a "yet" in there.

so, instead, he ended up hearing beomgyu talk about how happy taehyun was to open the christmas present beomgyu had gotten him.

lately it kind of seemed like beomgyu was always talking about taehyun. _only_ taehyun.

then, the conversation shifted.

"so, why did you tell us to go to the dance and then not show up," beomgyu suddenly demanded fiercely. "i'm seriously considering being very mad at you."

"oh," yeonjun lay back on his bed and looked at the pile of pillows soobin had been leaning back on just minutes ago. he smiled to himself. "i was sick, so i went home early."

"'sick'?" beomgyu questioned, "i saw you in science; you didn't seem sick."

"oh, well, i had a fever, actually," yeonjun explained. "and a headache."

"but you love going to parties," beomgyu continued arguing. "anyway, it's not like you missed much; just soobin kissing this one girl. he said her name was june."

there was silence for a few seconds, and then yeonjun's last working braincell realized, ' _idiot. you're not supposed to know about june!_ '

"oh, whaaaat?" yeonjun exaggerated his reaction. "soobin? kissing? a girl? really?"

"yeonjun, i'm serious," beomgyu said on the other end. "it kinda seemed like soobin was really into her. sorry."

"why would be sorry about that?" yeonjun was now kicking his legs in the air. there was a nervous, queasy feeling in his stomach. he was such a bad liar.

beomgyu sighed. "yeonjun, it's obvious. you like soobin, i know."

"what?" yeonjun sat up quickly.

beomgyu laughed, "i'm just kidding. but she was really good at dancing; i think you might have liked meeting her."

"oh, ha... ha... ha...." yeonjun said, "i don't know..."

"honestly, i didn't expect soobin to be the first of us to have a relationship," beomgyu mused. "he even beat you."

yeonjun felt his heart race with indignation. mayhaps if beomgyu had just left it at soobin being the "first" it wouldn't have been so bad.

but the fact that he included "he even beat you"?

oh, heck no. no one beats choi yeonjun. nope.

and beomgyu continued, "so soobin beat all of us... surprising. i guess you could say, he won."

"no he didn't," yeonjun insisted.

no, soobin did not "win".

"what makes you say that," beomgyu questioned. "he was the first of us to get a relationship."

see, beomgyu and taehyun had figured june and soobin's relationship wasn't real, and they had theorized that the only person who could actually tell them the truth about that would be yeonjun, his best friend.

and the way to get yeonjun to say the truth was to mention a competition. it always worked, in all this time that they knew him.

what beomgyu was not expecting to hear, however, was:

" _i_ dressed up as june. i _am_ june. soobin _and i_ are dating, so it's a _tie_! he didn't _win_!"


	14. ₁₄ | beomgyu knows

in the past, yeonjun and soobin had quite a rocky friendship.

most of it involved soobin following after yeonjun because he found the elder so cool. but it usually ended with soobin getting hurt, in more ways than one.

as they grew older, hitting an age where one tends to be rude and angry, their friendship had started to crumble.

the thin screen they put over the resentment between them for the sake of their parents was torn away.

yeonjun no longer wanted soobin to follow him around, and he found a new group of friends that captured his attention.

during that time, soobin grew lonelier, but eventually realized the reason why he had followed yeonjun around so much when they were younger. it had been from an early age that soobin already liked yeonjun, more than anyone realized.

but, whenever yeonjun was over at soobin's house, he'd talk about those new friends he'd found. them. it was always about them, and how cool they were. eventually, that was all that yeonjun would ever want to talk about.

soobin was always quiet about his annoyance, but he would wish every day for he and yeonjun to go back to their childhood selves - without realizing how toxic their relationship had been even then.

it seemed like, now that yeonjun had realized there were people other than soobin, he lost interest in him.

of course, yeonjun had no idea exactly what he was losing.

he started spending less and less time with soobin, until eventually it reached a point where yeonjun would only see soobin whenever their parents forced them together.

so soobin pretended to hate yeonjun.

it was easier to pretend to hate than to accept the truth.

for soobin, it was traumatizing to lose his yeonjun like that, to feel hapless and unable to bring him back, no matter what he tried, and to some friends he never wanted to explain how he knew or what their names were.

once soobin realized yeonjun would only "hang out" with him when he was forced to, or when he wasn't allowed to see those friends, it angered him.

it hurts to realize that all you really are to someone, who you care deeply about, is sloppy seconds.

it hurts, to see what you really mean to them.

[]

yeonjun was going through a rough patch, one he didn't want to admit he was going through.

he burned bridges to people he didn't mean to, and felt sick for enjoying the attention he received with the new group he had been admitted into. at the time, he didn't care.

but, his parents understood that there was something wrong, and that yeonjun's new attitude was only temporary, a shell that had grown around him because of the tumultuous time of adolescence.

they decided to search endlessly for a way to get him out of that environment without letting him know that was what they were trying to do.

so, when they found shining academy, a boarding school for high school boys, they jumped at the chance.

the only thing was, it was a boarding school, so yeonjun would be alone in a whole new world (shh, i'm watching aladdin), and that had a possibility of turning the problem worse.

yeonjun's parents also knew, without a doubt, that there was a special bond between yeonjun and soobin.

they knew of how close they had been in their childhood, because yeonuun had always come home ranting about how he was going to marry soobin one day because they both liked ice cream and spider-man.

it had been endearing to witness this, and heartbreaking to see it slowly destroyed, so they decided to convince soobin's parents to also enroll him in the boarding school.

it had been no easy feat until the incident with a boy from their school happened.

apparently, he'd been bullied for a long time by multiple students, and the school had known, yet not done anything. it was only when a few friends of his stepped in and defended him - violently - that everyone had become aware.

many were so angered by the school's lack of action that they pulled their kids from that school and enrolled them into a different one. this was exactly what soobin's parents had done, because if there was anything they hated more, it was bullying.

so that was how soobin and yeonjun found themselves on their way to a new school over a period of a few weeks' road trip, and their relationship actually sparking into something real over the course of a single warm summer; because it was already there, and there were no questions asked. 

but now soobin was asking questions. 

well, he wasn't really considering many of them yet. for now, he was just starting to wonder why suddenly yeonjun was seriously wanting to do anything soobin said.

he remembered the dance and june's creative appearance. literally, anything. what changed?

and, when would yeonjun go back to that cold version of himself? when would he replace soobin again?

he figured it was better to keep his distance, but with every single minute he spent with this new happy, clingy yeonjun, the more his heart yearned for more.

with each touch of his feverish lips it always left soobin regretful when he left; with every puppy-eyed look yeonjun sent him soobin wanted to do anything to make him happy again.

and then soobin realized he had it bad. he had it bad, bad. this was exactly what he didn't want to happen.

but, every minute spent with the ethereal choi yeonjun was magical, impossible to forget, and it _felt right_.

every time soobin looked at his face for a split second, it felt like the burning sensation of alcohol sinking into the stomach of an alcoholic after trying to bear sobriety; it felt like freedom, and soobin would let go of the tension he didn't even know he was holding in his shoulders.

even now, at 5 in the morning, when he was supposed to be repacking and on his way back to school, soobin was already thinking of yeonjun; in fact, to be truthful, he had never stopped.

but this time, the aching in his heart was worse. had it really been that dramatically long time since their last face-to-face encounter?

soobin had become quite the interesting addict in the course of a few months.

soobin picked up his phone and dialed yeonjun's number. he had grown accustomed to seeing yeonjun's face every morning, so this "break" from school and the dorms had almost been too much.

"hello," yeonjun yawned into the receiver.

soobin stared at the screen and realized he had accidentally sent a video call. and yeonjun accepted.

he could see the blue-haired boy's mess of a room, and the fact that he wore extremely cute spider-man pajamas.

"omg." yeonjun finally noticed that he could also see soobin, and he hurriedly sat up. "wait, don't hang up."

the screen blurred and when it cleared, yeonjun was gone; instead, soobin was now staring at the ceiling.

after waiting for what seemed like an eternity - but was actually five minutes - yeonjun reappeared, wearing clothes that were more appropriately suited for the day instead of pajamas, and his lips shone (which meant, makeup?), and he'd even brushed his hair.

"sorry," he apologized breathlessly. "you were saying?"

soobin's heart stuttered a beat and he wondered what yeonjun might think if soobin explained how he felt when he saw him. but no, of course, they did not have a good history with that, so instead soobin decided it was foolish and dramatic for him to have worded out his thoughts that way.

it was silly.

"i'm up," yeonjun insisted. "so..?"

soobin felt his face flush with embarrassment. "uh, nothing. i was just making sure you actually woke up. you are my ride to school, after all."

yeonjun awwed sarcastically. "how cute. yes, i'm awake; your mission is complete. did you sleep well yesterday?"

soobin was surprised by the question, but stuttered out a simple, "y-yes, thanks-?"

(why did he say thanks? soobin wanted to smack himself.)

but, of course, yeonjun had a way of making soobin even more embarrassed than what he could already accomplish on his own.

"i hope you dreamt of me~!" yeonjun sent him an air kiss. "a kith for you, sir."

"oh my god, _shush_ ," soobin looked wildly around the room. "what if my parents sneak up on me?"

yeonjun shrugged. "oh! are my parents still taking you back to school?"

"uh, yeah, i think so."

"ooh, that's great! beomgyu's... also...." he drifted off, looking afraid.

soobin asked, "yeonjunie, what is it?"

yeonjun hummed, looking away. "we're also taking beomgyu... but i need to tell you something. i swear it was an accident-"

soobin's heart hammered in his chest. it almost felt like he already knew what was the problem. what else would yeonjun be so scared to tell?

"please, please, _please_ don't be mad," yeonjun begged. then, without taking a breath, he rushed out, "beomgyu knows."

"beomgyu. knows. _beomgyu_ ," soobon repeated. he somehow couldn't wrap his mind around that. "how," he whispered, more to himself.

yeonjun stammered, "i-i didn't mean to tell him about us!"

"you told him," soobin asked, "about ' _us_ '?"

"i didn't mean to! he kinda tricked me!"

and then yeonjun was staring at the black screen, filled with the text blaring, "call ended".

* * *

since soobin hadn't told yeonjun he changed his mind about carpool, yeonjun still asked his parents to pick him up. when they arrived, soobin was sitting on his porch, appearing to be deep in thought. he grudgingly got in the car.

yeonjun looked at him expectantly and switched on the puppy eyes. they always seemed to work on soobin.

soobin thanked yeonjun's parents in a calm enough tone.

yeonjun tried to communicate with his eyes again, wishing that soobin wasn't so easily angered.

instead, they rode on in silence. only yeonjun's parents talked loudly in the front seats, about something to do with their unwillingness to go out that day and instead stay home.

when they got to beomgyu's home and alerted him that they were waiting, yeonjun found soobin quickly grasping his hand in a tight, sweaty grip. yeonjun didn't even try to hide the huge grin on his face.

beomgyu opened the door and thanked yeonjun's parents while getting in. he closed the door and caught sight of soobin and yeonjun holding hands.

he pretended to throw up and grumbled, "why don't you just sit in his lap while you're at it."

they held their pointer fingers in front of their lips in the universal shushing motion.

beomgyu slid down in his swat and held his phone directly in front of his eyes, ignoring the ahjummas' advice and risking early blindness just to not see their hand-holding.

soobin smiled slightly. there could be some benefits to this, as long as the number of people who knew stayed low.

he finally looked at yeonjun, who was glancing at beomgyu's antics and still grinning like an idiot.

when they arrived at school, soobin tried to ignore the lonely feeling in the pit of his stomach when he saw yeonjun tenderly hug his parents goodbye.

it was not common in soobin's family to hug each other or express much emotion at all, so his parents had barely even said goodbye when soobin left.

they returned to their dorms. actually, soobin, yeonjun, and kai crashed beomgyu and taehyun's room so that they could discuss how the break had been.

kai was explaining - whining - that his younger siblings had gotten more red envelopes than him at their new year celebration.

taehyun cut in, "it's the year of my spirit animal. the rat."

"taehyun, you're not a rat," soobin tried to convince him.

yeonjun was staring fondly at soobin while he talked, still smiling. beomgyu rolled his eyes at this and looked away, wondering how he had not put the pieces together before; yeonjun and soobin were so obviously together.

every once in a while, yeonjun would lean forward and pinch at soobin's cheeks, cooing at him, or soobin would pat yeonjun's leg in a way that seemed like he was distracted.

eW, dIsGuStAnG, beomgyu shook his head.

yeonjun suddenly asked, "why does it feel like i'm forgetting something? why did we come back to school a day early?"

soobin blanched. "the soccer meeting," he gasped and caught yeonjun's eyes. "it was at ten today."

yeonjun quickly got up and yanked on his shoes.

"it's 10:07," taehyun supplied helpfully (sarcasm).

"that's why we rushin," yeonjun insisted. "okay, bye guys; don'tworrybehappyiloveyouuu!"

they ran out of the dorm and gunned for the gym, where they usually had soccer meetings.

"i am _so_ out of shape." yeonjun was practically dying when they arrived. "oof, but we stan mcdonald's!"

(soobin also felt the same, but not as dramatically.)

however, inside they found several annoyed teammates and no coach.

lucas called out, "oh, there you guys are. what took so long?"

soobin was flushed from their run, and so was yeonjun, so mayhaps it looked a little weird when soobin explained, "we forgot there was a meeting."

luckily, yeonjun chanted under his breath, "don't be suspicious, don't be suspicious; don't bE SUSPICIOUS DON'T BE SUSPICIOUS" and lucas didn't press the matter any further.

hyunjin declared, "our team captain isn't even here! okay, two minutes. if they're not here by then i'm actually quitting the team right here and right now."

"you've said that every two minutes since 10," seungmin snapped, "why do you always have to be ready to fight?"

"yeah," lucas grinned, "it's like you just _step on the floor and start a riot_." half of the team was suddenly dying of laughter, confusing the other half.

"wait," jaemin suddenly interjected, "does anyone even know what this meeting is about?"

"did they just lie to us and make us waste a day of our vacation," jeno gasped, placing a hand on his chest.

"we were played," haechan shook his head.

there was a loud argument of what the purpose could be, and some were actually making plans to quit the team pr instate another captain to be in charge of it.

"okay i'm here now," jungkook hyung's familiar voice shouted over them, ending all discussion immediately.

everyone turned to find jungkook and the coach pushing a cart along, with taehyung walking beside them, a red bandanna holding his newly-dyed, dark gray hair back.

"all right, there's no need to riot; yes i know we're late but that's because we were picking up presents for you ungrateful children."

jungkook motioned, "so tae's gonna model for y'all—"

taehyujg grinned and raised his eyebrows before dramatically throwing his head back and stepping in front of jungkook. he slowly raised his head, a stern look on his face, and snapped up the collar of the jacket.

the torso of the jacket was dark blue with orange sleeves, and it had their school's crest displayed on the right side of the upper torso. taehyung held up two v signs over his face, posing for imaginary cameras.

"yo, i think he was born into the wrong life," lucas commented with over-exaggerated awe.

"what's he showin off," minho asked in a goofy tone.

"oh, that headband," mark pointed out, "it's niiiiice."

"you guys are idiots," jungkook shook his head.

"we prefer 'lacking brain cells'," hyunjin interrupted, causing everyone to collapse in hysterics.

"what kind of cult was i inducted into," renjun widened his eyes.

jungkook exclaimed, "wE HAVE LETTERMAN JACKETS NOW!!"

"oHHHHHHHH," everyone shouted collectively.

the coach shook her head and laughed. taehyung boomed, "and now, the back!"

with a flourish, he spun around to reveal the back of the jacket. it displayed his jersey number, which was 5, and above it, a simple letter "v".

mark led everyone in a sarcastic round of applause.

"do all of ours say 'v'," woojin raised his hand.

seungmin agreed, "i don't recall asking for that."

"why does it seem like there are less brain cells in a team meeting than the usual amount," soobin turned to yeonjun.

yeonjun huffed, "we just had, like, a three week break. are you really asking that question?"

"now all you lil shits get one, so step forward when i call your name," jungkook announced, picking up the first jacket. "mark lee!"

"aye, that's me," mark held up his hand. he walked through the crowd towards the cart, holding out his arms.

jungkook dumped the jacket in them unceremoniously.

mark started to thank his "parents, teammates, friends, anyone really, except for johnny because he locked me out of the car last night for singing the miami song at people—" but jungkook pushed him along and called the next person up.

yeonjun tapped soobin shoulder. "but, i don't have a number. i don't play; i'm on bench."

"you still have a jersey with a number on it," soobin reminded him.

sure enough, yeonjun's jacket had been stamped with his jersey number, 27.

soobin's had the number 3, but when he saw the number, he realized his name had been misspelled above it.

"hah! omg! does that say _soobean_ on it?!" yeonjun cackled, attracting everyone's attention.

"um, jungkook hyung," soobin meekly raised his hand.

it took awhile, but jungkook finally noticed soobin calling.

everyone was dying when the coach held up the jacket with SOOBEAN facing them.

"we'll get it remade," jungkook nodded. "sorry, soobean."

the entire room roared with laughter. soobin felt his face get warmer by the second.

then three boys waltzed in, whispering and shoving each other, and soobin immediately recognized them. what were chris, felix, and changbin doing here?

the coach motioned to the trio. "oh, next order of business: these three are apparently messing around too much in their free time, so the dean put them on the team as punishment. welcome your new teammates, uh... chris bahng, changbin seo, yongbok-"

felix hissed. the coach stopped and looked at him curiously. before she could comment, chris explained, "sorry, mate; he goes by felix, hates that name."

they then stepped forward and were immediately engulfed by everyone's cheers. they were quite well-known around the school.

yeonjun elbowed soobin slightly, "hey, don't worry, soobean. if you want, you can always borrow my jacket until they get you a new one."


	15. ₁₅ | foreboding

soobin had always been the kind of person who was afraid to feel too happy, because when that happened usually a disastrous event followed.

and, if he were smart enough to listen, there were usually warning signs before the really big problem would swell up.

but soobin was stubborn and hopeful, and didn't want to admit that there was something wrong following his happiness.

however, as he kept ignoring the warnings, the events rose exponentially in disastrousness.

and this time was no different.

the first event was something soobin would have normally brushed off.

there was a big writing assignment due in his english class the next day, but soobin had forgotten all about it and wanted to take yeonjun out for a mcdonald's run because he kept insisting on it. and, after what yeonjun had done, soobin wasn't very keen on holding out on things that would make him happy.

actually, it was just supposed to be the two of them, with beomgyu behind to cover their tracks.

but because of beomgyu's insanely good (sarcasm) skills of persuasion, taehyun and kai decided to tag along out of pure suspicion. they all ended up having a good time anyway, and it felt fun to laugh with each other and forget the stressors in their lives.

in fact, there was one event they kept giggling about, what was dubbed 'the mcdonald's thing' because they (clears throat: _the author_ , actually) weren't really feeling creative; yeonjun had been dared to ask for a girl's toy with his kid's meal, and the female worker had thought he was buying it for a sister or something of the sort.

she'd tried asking him about her in a flirty way, but yeonjun denied her advances and insisted he didn't have a sister, which was when she immediately jumped to the conclusion that he had a daughter.

finally, when yeonjun had had about enough, he pointed to kai in the back of the dining room, where the rest of the group was howling with laughter, and told her, "the toy's for kai."

in fact, when they returned to school, they were still laughing so hard that they'd been caught trying to sneak back in and were assigned detention. the group, much like the rest of the school, didn't mind the punishment of detention, because it was so mild and they at least still had it with each other.

but because soobin did not finish his assignment, he couldn't turn it in.

mr. jung stopped by soobin's desk before the end of class and sighed. "soobin, you're on the soccer team, right? i checked your assignments; you're missing four. you know what i have to do, right? what time can your parents come in?"

soobin swallowed the lump in his throat. his vision blurred as mr. jung's words echoed in his mind.

technically, the policy for being of a sports team was that if you were missing two assignments across all your classes, your parents were called in.

and soobin knew for a fact that this assignment put him at four, but he had never had to feal with the consequences yet because his other teachers were scared of the sports players, mostly thanks to the basketball team.

he choked out, "i'm not sure..... sir."

mr. jung nodded and said he'd be calling his parents in that same day, after school.

soobin continued through the rest of his day quietly, his eyes wide with anxiety as he stared off into the distance and had flashbacks of bad days.

a queasy feeling started up in his stomach, and soobin couldn't get rid of it.

yeonjun walked silently with soobin on their way to the locker rooms; once they entered, taehyung and jungkook were having a heated conversation about what sounded like whether or not elsa sunbaenim was bisexual and jimin and namjoon were already dressed in their uniforms, hurrying off to practice.

since they had nothing to do but fuck around for 30 minutes or so, yeonjun and soobin decided to hang along with taehyung and jungkook as they walked around and stopping to talk to people before walking off again.

this was when yeonjun asked soobin what was wrong and soobin finally confessed about his parents coming for the meeting after school.

"oof... mr. jung is really strict, but that's supposed to show that he cares, i guess," yeonjun shrugged. "so your parents are coming after class?"

"most likely."

yeonjun looked at soobin with his big, worried eyes. "don't worry, soobean. it'll be okay. they're just assignments; i doubt your parents will get _that_ mad."

but it was a lie and it sounded false even to yeonjun.

the rest of his time passed by both too slow and too fast for soobin. soon he found himself walking into mr. jung's classroom to wait for his parents.

let's just say it didn't go so well.

his parents had mostly been stoic and professional, hiding their emotions under a mask of calm, which was a trait that their son had inherited. but then, mr. jung left them to have a private talk for awhile, and that was when their true colors showed.

"do you have any idea how embarrassing this is?" soobin's mother had fury in her eyes. she hated when other people scrutinized her, mostly because she did it to others.

but that's a topic for another time.

soobin pleaded for them to understand.

and, then... "it's yeonjun isn't it," soobin's father scoffed, "i knew he would be a bad influence."

and soobin felt the anger rise exponentially. 

but he couldn't bring himself to say shit, because that was what it was like to be afraid of your own parents.

"no, it has to be sports," his mother insisted. "they're affecting his performance in school. you heard the teacher; the team takes up his time."

soobin bit down on his lip and hung his head. the more angry he got the harder he'd dig his teeth into his lip, until he tasted the his own blood on his tongue.

they tended to blame everyone else but the real culprit. soobin felt like coming clean and telling then it was his own fault that those assignments weren't complete; that he had purposefully not done them because he didn't want to.

but, he didn't.

his parents continued with their threats to pull hin out of the school, and then they let him be.

soobin walked back to the dorm area with a numb feeling surrounding him in a fog. after years of experiencing those dumb "lectures" from his parents, he tended to only feel empty at the end of them. call it a defensive tactic, i suppose.

but when he opened the door, yeonjun immediately sprang up from his seat on the bed, soobin's hoodie in his arms, as if he had been cradling it just moments ago, and asked, "they didn't yell at you too much, did they?"

normally, soobin might have lied through his teeth. the numb shell around him was very good at keeping the sadness at bay.

but something about yeonjun broke through, and soobin felt a prickling in his eyes as his vision shimmered and swam, distorting the edges of the scene in front of him.

maybe it was because yeonjun had shown more care in three seconds than soobin's parents had in 3 months.

yeonjun dropped soobin's hoodie and raced to close the door, pulling soobin to sit down.

he immediately wordlessly hugged him, and soobin fought hard to keep that first tear from falling. because if the first one fell, there would be no stopping the rest.

after a minute or so of struggle, soobin was finally able to use his voice and pushed yeonjun away with the insistence, "i'm fine."

yeonjun tried to reach his arms out, and then soobin shoved a hand out without really looking, smacking aside yeonjun's hand.

"i said, **_no_**!!"

it hadn't been aggressive at all, or hard. if anything, all it had been a shock to yeonjun. it was the first time in his entire life that he had ever been hit like that.

they stayed quiet for some time, and soobin turned away, hiding his face of embarrassment and roughly taking out the necessary materials for his missing assignments.

and yeonjun felt like walking away.

in fact, he had just taken the first step back, when he stopped suddenly. no, they had been walking away from each other too much lately, only to return to each other and pretend everything was okay, solved by a few kisses in the dark.

that wasn't a real relationship.

before that nasty thought could continue, yeonjun shook his head to clear it away and sat down on the bed again, stealing looks at soobin, who was angrily flipping through a textbook.

soobin was not the kind of person you should continue to press when he was angry and had already established that he was.

but yeonjun knew he had to press. soobin had only ever cried three times in total over their whole life. once from the bike incident, after his parents had yelled at him for getting hurt, the second had been when soobin had rushed over full of fear and with angry, raised, red marks on his arms. the third had been just now.

and, yeonjun was willing to bet that the common factor between all those was soobin's parents; this was serious.

but, he knew if he continued to press about the meeting, soobin both could and would snap and things would enf disastrously.

so, instead he asked about soobin's assignments. as soobin spoke in short, clipped sentences, yeonjun offered solutions to the work: the book report he was missing was similar to the one he'd done in mr. kang's class, so soobin could copy that. the math homework? taehyun really was a math whiz, so he could tutor soobin, and if he got inpatient (which was what usually happened) he'd just end up doing the work for soobin; it was a win-win.

they asked taehyun to come over and help, unknowingly inviting beomgyu and kai into the room as well.

yeonjun talked with them for awhile while taehyun impatiently scrawled on soobin's paper trying to explain why soobin was so stupid for not getting the answers.

by the time soobin's work was done, it was late, so the trio insisted on having a sleepover, since they had never really had one.

yeonjun wasn't too happy about it, but he allowed beomgyu to sleep between soobin and him, while taehyun and kai launched themselves on top.

they giggled and talked about random things until they fell asleep.

the next morning, it was chaos.

yeonjun stirred but didn't open his eyes, hearing taehyun, beomgyu, and kai whisper to each other. when it was absolutely quiet, yeonjun realized with alarm that they had left.

he looked over at soobin and found himself staring for some time, feeling like a stalker but also unable to look away.

then soobin sat up, and yeonjun immediately closed his eyes.

there were some crunching noises and soobin asked, "who put cheerios in my mouth..?"

he chewed at them anyway and swallowed, smiling as he noticed there were more on the bedside table.

soobin looked over when yeonjun nudged him, and saw that he had his eyes closed. they somehow communicated wordlessly so that soobin dropped one cheerio onto yeonjun's lips; the latter then opened his mouth so that they fell in.

soobin laughed and shook his head. "if you're gonna pretend you didn't do that, you'll have to be a better liar."

"i didn't do it," yeonjun then insisted, and continued, "give me more."

just then, the sound of a bell chiming rang through the dorm building, and they froze, fear palpable on their faces.

late.

"please tell me that wasn't the tardy bell."

luck was not on their side.

they put on their uniforms and raced to class. soobin entered his homeroom just as his teacher was walking down the hall.

he crashed into his seat beside woojin, who grinned, "slept in, did we?"

soobin caught his breath and huffed, "i didn't hear my alarm go off, i guess."

"hey, at least, we have mr. kang; ain't no teacher later than him," woojin laughed.

sure enough, mr. kang entered the room, distracted. he was speaking loudly on the phone. "are you completely sure you're fine now? because i'll drop everything right now and go; they're just kids, they'll be fine."

"yeah," woojin said sarcastically, "it's not like we're here to learn or anything."

soobin laughed and shook his head slightly. the whole school basically knew that mr. kang was recently married, and his wife was expecting. the only reason everyone knew was because mr. kang was always iconically late to class and talking about it nonstop.

thankfully enough, their teacher was able to stay and give them instructions.

mr. kang sighed deeply with the weight of the world and explained, "it's the start of finals, i trust you all are aware. today you'll be given some time to look over your grades in each class and prepare for the tests."

while everyone was released to their study time, mr. kang called soobin up to his desk.

soobin felt his face heat up as everyone turned their heads to see him walk up to the front of the room.

mr. kang asked, "so, i see your parents were called in yesterday."

soobin nodded once, slightly, his heart beginning to race.

"do you need help with catching up on the assignments?"

"i already completed them," soobin whispered, wishing he could disappear into a hole in the ground.

mr. kang looked surprised. "oh. well, if you give me the assignments, i could turn them in with your teachers, if you'd like."

soobin nodded. he started to feel less embarrassed and more like a huge weight was lifted off his chest.

"you know, soobin, i've been taking a look at your grades in your literature class with hos- i mean, mr. jung, and you seem to be struggling," mr. kang said in a low tone. luckily, no one was paying much attention to their conversation. "do you want to move to an easier class? i know sports take up a lot of your time."

"what class would i... be moved to," soobin asked slowly, seriously considering it. if it could help him out, he'd take the embarrassment of moving down.

mr. kang beamed. "you'd get my class. yeonjun takes it; he's one of your friends, right?"

soobin felt butterflies in his stomach. "u-uh... i guess, that's a better choice, yeah."

"okay," mr. kang nodded and typed at his computer. "i switched your third period literature class for mine; see you in two hours!"

* * *

when yeonjun started his day, he did not expect it to get this bad.

being late to class wasn't that bad, even if he did get another detention for it. but when he walked into class and sat down in his seat, everyone started to whisper.

yeonjun ignored it, thinking it wouldn't be too bad if he didn't participate in the spreading of tea for once.

since they were given free time to study, yeonjun tried cracking open his math notes, but he was not in a studying mood at 8:06 in the morning.

so, he opened up his phone and tried texting his friends. there was no answer, so he figured he was the only one putting off studying.

and then he caught someone's whisper. "a dress?! at the dance?!"

yeonjun looked in the direction of the not-so-quiet shout. two boys were bent over their desk, talking.

shrugging slightly, yeonjun figured they were just talking about something else and he was being paranoid.

homeroom class ended, so he walked to his next class, playing music in his earbuds. but, as he passed through the hallway, he noticed everyone would watch him pass before they turned to talk with people around them.

yeonjun checked his uniform and worried if there was something wrong with his appearance. god forbid he didn't look presentable.

but, if there was anything wrong with his outer self, he didn't see it.

this time, in his second class, everyone avoided sitting at the desks that were one space to his left, right, front, and back.

when class started, yeonjun had four empty desks around him.

do i smell? yeonjun recalled if there would be any reason he smelled bad, but there wasn't any that could explain why people kept staring and avoiding him.

nevertheless, he shrunk down in his seat and wished he could disappear into a hole in the ground.

while the teacher droned on in the front and instructed the students to take notes, yeonjun doodled on his paper and looked up every once in awhile to find some random person in the room staring at him.

they always turned away when they caught yeonjun's eyes, and yeonjun felt the hot stinging of tears start to burn. but why? this just felt so humiliating somehow...

yeonjun needed comfort. and in times like this, soobin never failed to make him feel better, even without trying.

so, when the bell chimed, yeonjun sprang out of his seat in hopes to catch soobin before his english class. in order to get there though, he had to pass by his own english class, so he ducked his head in hopes that mr. kang wouldn't see him.

but, just when he passed, something happened. yeonjun remembered it was almost too fast to process.

he noticed the fact that mr. kang was still in the middle of talking to the class, but when yeonjun turned away, he distinctly remembered feeling someone grab his arm and whirl him in the other direction.

yeonjun landed on the ground and felt a shock of pain travel up his arms, which had landed first. 

everyone crowded around him now, and pushed through him.

yeonjun tried to push himself up, but they'd step on his laces, on the hem of his uniform, on his hand, keeping him from getting up.

"s-stop," yeonjun let out, and then the crowds cleared.

before yeonjun could celebrate his newfound powers, he saw soobin standing over him. "yeonjunie, are you okay?"

he helped yeonjun get up, and yeonjun insisted that he was okay.

"oh, i have mr. kang's class now," soobin grinned.

"what? omg, right now? me too!!"

so, they walked into class together and sat in the back, and it seemed that just being in each other's presence made their day that much better.

and in the back of the class, a blond-haired boy leaned over to whisper, "do you think soobin knows? he's just talking to him like normal."

the second shrugged. "if he doesn't, he should. imagine not knowing what kind of sick bastard you had for a friend?"

they both angrily stared at the back of yeonjun's blue head.

|| author's note: we're almost caught up to the wattpad version sdjksajkd y A Y


	16. ₁₆ | the ostracization of choi yeonjun

"oh god, midterms are finally over," yeonjun sighed, dropping down to the ground.

"speak for yourself," beomgyu sighed dramatically, leaning back against his arms. "taehyun and i have to take care of a stupid egg for our stupid health class, and that's affecting our final grade."

taehyun silently sat down, cross-legged, so that his knee was softly touching beomgyu's well-built thigh. yeonjun, noticing, sent beomgyu a look. beomgyu pretended to be very preoccupied with opening up the ziplock bag that held an egg inside.

soobin and kai also lowered themselves to the ground, both looking as tired as the rest of the group felt.

"hey wait, be careful!" taehyun reached out and caught the egg as it rolled out of the bag. he was leaning over above beomgyu, and though his was turned to the side, their faces were incredibly close together.

yeonjun turned and widened his eyes at soobin, who was confused. he didn't quite get what yeonjun was trying to communicate.

taehyun sat back down, a reddish tinge spreading through his face as he looked at his shoes and cradled the egg in his hands.

beomgyu cleared his throat and cracked his knuckles, trying to find a way to divert everyone's attention. "oh, we should celebrate. the school year is almost over."

soobin asked, "today?... i don't know about today..."

yeonjun narrowed his eyes. "why would you not know if you can hang out today with us or not?"

"well, daehwi invited me to this thing after school... i'm not sure exactly what," soobin answered nervously, looking to the others for help.

beomgyu raised his eyebrows and shook his head, as if to say, 'you're on your own, buddy', which made soobin wonder why they even let beomgyu know in the first place if he wasn't very helpful.

taehyun spoke up then. "that's fine, soobin hyung. my parents were gonna take me out after school anyway. we have a week-long break from school, though, right? how about we just wait a little?"

"yeah, plus, there'd be a lot of people in the stores and stuff right now, 'cause everyone's done with midterms," kai agreed. "this is why taehyun's the smartie!" he grinned and looked at taehyun with awe.

yeonjun continued to look at soobin disapprovingly.

but, he didn't have to worry much anyways. soobin received a red slip during their class, in health.

they were in the middle of reading about STDs and other gross stuff in the textbook when the teacher dropped the red slip on soobin's desk. red slips were for detention.

"aw, what'd i do now," soobin said loudly in annoyance. "i swear, i can't even breathe at this school. they've got it out for me."

ms. waeng shrugged. "hey, i'm just the messenger. i'll let you leave two minutes early to go serve."

yeonjun leaned over to read the slip. it explained that this was the last detention soobin had to serve for the missing assignments; the detentions had been postponed during testing week.

therefore, two minutes before the class ended, ms. waeng let soobin leave, true to her promise. yeonjun whispered harshly, "i'll wait for you-!" but it was possible soobin couldn't hear the whisper over the loud noises of everyone starting to pack up their things.

yeonjun sat back down and slowly placed everything in his backpack, feeling uneasy. there were more eyes looking at him this time, and many of them didn't look away when yeonjun caught them.

at one point, yeonjun even caught felix staring at him. felix also did not look away, and he looked... conflicted. yeonjun held his gaze firmly, wondering if he could learn from felix's eyes why suddenly everyone was staring at him.

but then chris tapped felix's shoulder and whispered something in his ear, turning to look at yeonjun for a second before leading felix away.

yeonjun looked at the ground and fought back tears. chris and felix were known for being some of the friendliest students in school. if _they_ were avoiding him, what was going on?

"hey, watch it," said a brunette before using his backpack to push yeonjun over. yeonjun accidentally knocked over a chair when he fell, which landed on his ribs and sent a shock of pain through them.

ms. waeng called out, "no rough-housing! there's a wholeass _minute_ left, you hooligans!"

"sorry ms. waeng," he and his friends chorused out, and they walked away.

daehwi appeared then, holding out a hand to help yeonjun up. "you have got to stop letting them push you around like that," he said crossly, fixing the chair and desk. "they'll keep doing it if you let them."

yeonjun frowned. how dare daehwi even think he knew what was going on? yeonjun was being pushed around all day, and it all just happened out of nowhere.

the bell chimed then, and everyone rushed out of the classroom. but daehwi waited for yeonjun to put away the textbook he and soobin had been using.

"so, are you going straight home right now? are your friends walking with you?" daehwi walked alongside yeonjun down the hallway.

yeonjun was uncomfortable. how could daehwi act like they were best chums all of a sudden?

"i'm gonna wait for soobin. he has his last detention today," yeonjun spoke coldly, thinking this was the end of the conversation.

"oh, where are you gonna do that? can i walk with you there?"

yeonjun paused for a moment. "no. and soobin's not gonna go to your stupid little shindig so don't you dare try to guilt him into going!"

daehwi stopped in the middle of the hallway to shake his head, looking confused. "i would never-!" but he was lost in the crowd.

yeonjun continued his fast pace, flinching whenever someone would take a step too close. he felt the dull aches in his ribs and his palms still, while those memories of being pushed over flashed in his mind.

why are they treating me like this?

yeonjun looked up and saw jeon woong standing off to the side, leaning back against the wall while he tapped away at his phone and smiled. it was not likely woong had seen him, but yeonjun still felt his heart twist, causing him to duck down and hide behind people while he walked past.

maybe he did deserve a little pain after all.

yeonjun walked into mr. kang's, glad to see his door open. "mr. kang?"

he stuck in his head to see the said teacher in the back straightening desks. he looked up and smiled, "oh, yeonjun. what brings you here?"

yeonjun asked quietly, "um, could i stay here for a bit after school? i'm waiting for someone."

"oh. sure, if you don't mind the noise," mr. kang nodded, then walked to the front of the classroom.

yeonjun stuck his hands in the front pocket of soobin's hoodie and thanked mr. kang, choosing a desk in the back. then, it hit him.

what noise might be mind?

just then, renjun walked in silently. mr. kang greeted the shy boy, who simply nodded and walked to the corner away from yeonjun to put his things down.

"ayeee mr. kang," lucas sing-songed as he stepped into the room. "whaddup?"

mr. kang shook his head, laughing. "i don't know if i can hold the class for too long today, guys. i have a checkup to go to."

"oh, speaking of which, do we know if it's a dude or a gal yet," lucas asked, dropping a bag on a desk in the front.

mr. kang grinned good-naturedly. "that's what we're supposed to find out today."

"if it's a dude, lucas is a great name you know," lucas nodded seriously. "it ain't never let me down."

"mr. kang, wassUP," minho called as he entered. "i didn't think we'd actually have a class today."

a class? yeonjun called out to lucas. "hey, lucas!"

lucas turned and looked extremely surprised to see yeonjun sitting in the back. "oh, yeonjun..." he looked around nervously and walked about two desks closer to yeonjun, reluctantly. there was quite a bit of space between them, making yeonjun feel like he should yell.

"mr. kang has an after school class?" yeonjun questioned, "how come i didn't know about this?"

"duh, everyone knows about mr. kang's vocal class," lucas made a face. "are you living under a rock, or what?"

mr. kang walked over. "hey now, it's alright. i'm glad that there are some people who don't know, honestly."

"don't know about what? the class?"

"mr. kang was almost going to be a soloist, so now he helps those of us who might want to be trainees someday," minho motioned while he talked. "wow, you really don't know?"

"a soloist?!" yeonjun stood up. "what?! why aren't you one?!"

"i realized i wanted to be a teacher much more than a soloist," mr. kang smiled cheerfully.

"mr. kang, you gave up money and fame for _literature_?!" yeonjun couldn't believe it.

"nice to see that yeonjun thinks i made the right choice," mr. kang said dryly.

"hey, where's mr. k- oh," said a tall, black-haired boy as he walked in beside one who had bright, pinkish-red hair.

mr. kang greeted, "well if it isn't the two taes! we're gonna start shortly; just waiting on the late ones."

"please don't ever call us that again," the pink-haired one grinned good-naturedly.

"wait a minute; who's gonna start the warm up if j-"

"WE'RE HERE!" jimin hyung stumbled in. "sorry, the seniors were crazy today!!"

jungkook stomped in, his arms crossed and an annoyed look on his face. "do we really have to have a class today?"

yeonjun took out his phone and placed his earbuds in, with the intent to listen to music while they worked, since he wasn't a part of the class.

until mr. kang commented, "oh, yeonjun, you're free to join in if and whenever you want to."

yeonjun smiled and started to get up, until he noticed the uneasy looks on several of the boys faces, except for jimin and jungkook.

he sat back down.

instead yeonjun leaned his head into his hand and stared at the desktop, allowing the music to envelop him and ease his mind from a day of worries.

yeonjun was startled awake by mr. kang softly shaking him and asking, "yeonjun, are you okay?"

he nodded and sat up. "i'm sorry; i guess i fell asleep."

"that's alright," mr. kang shrugged. "let's get going now."

"oh no, what time is it?!" yeonjun shot up and hurriedly glanced around for a clock.

"5:26."

"oh my god, when does detention end again?!"

"4:55. were you waiting for someone?"

"yes," yeonjun answered breathlessly, taking out his earbuds and grabbing his backpack roughly. there were no more students in the room.

"i'm sorry, yeonjun; no one came by the room," mr. kang shrugged. "maybe they're waiting for you somewhere else?"

yeonjun nodded. "thank you, mr. kang. your class seems cool, wish i could join."

he tried to scurry out, but mr. kang stopped him. "and why can't you? is it the schedule? because i also have a morning class, if that's better."

yeonjun shuffled his feet. had mr. kang really not noticed how the other boys acted around him?

mr. kang sighed. "if it has to do with other people, you shouldn't let that determine what you do in life. there will always be those who want to keep you down, for the sole purpose that they keep themselves up."

oh, how _embarrassing_. yeonjun hung his head and nodded slightly, saying goodbye once more before ducking out quickly.

he threw his backpack onto his shoulder and sprinted down the empty halls. he shivered. the school felt like a haunted ghost town this way, as yeonjun was used to seeing it full of people.

as he got to the dorms, he swiftly unlocked the door to his and soobin's room, shocking himself as the lights came on with his movement, meaning there hadn't been anyone in there for awhile.

yeonjun grabbed his suitcase from under his bed and checked under soobin's. his suitcase was gone, meaning he did come in here to get his things.

why didn't soobin see that yeonjun was waiting? did he really just leave him behind like that?

yeonjun answered his phone when he heard the ringtone sound.

" _choi yeonjun why the hell haven't you answered my messages?!_ "

"oh, sorry; i was busy at school, mom," yeonjun explained. "i have my stuff, so i'll be there soon."

" _i have half a mind to smack you!! do you know how worried i was?! how dare you do this to your poor mother,_ " she sighed with frustration.

yeonjun apologized to his mother and hung up shortly after promising to text her at every street he arrived.

now he was walking slowly out of the dorm and down the school hallway, barely more than a shamble, dejected by the fact that he'd been left behind.

there were some students out in the front of the school, but none of them paid him any attention. yeonjun felt as gloomy as the sky, which was a blanket of clouds that allowed no view of the sky beyond, stifling and suffocating, despite it having been spring for a month already.

even though he didn't really feel like it, yeonjun took out his earbuds again, pressing play on the song he was currently obsessed with.

" _seasons change and our love went cold.._  
 _feed the flame 'cause we can't let go.._  
 _run away, but we're running in circles..._ "

thoughts of soobin randomly popped into yeonjun's mind, just small details of the boy and his amazing personality.

when his eyes formed those half-crescents as he smiled or laughed. speaking of which, that stupid wheezing laugh that was literally the cutest one yeonjun had ever heard.

the way he'd try to hide behind the nearest person to him whenever he was the subject of conversation, though he was easily one of the tallest at school.

that time he kissed yeonjun- er, _june_ , in front of their friends at the dance.

the way his voice wavered with happy emotions whenever he talked about food or bread.

when he'd found the jellies yeonjun had left for him in his jacket pocket, because he wouldn't shut up about wanting some, and had clung to yeonjun for the rest of the day, insisting he had to repay him.

those irresistible dimples in his chubby cheeks and how much they made yeonjun want to constantly pinch at his face.

and, most recently, when he sang along, very shyly and quietly, to one of bebe rexha's songs... even though yeonjun didn't like how obsessed soobin was with her, he appreciated her for allowing him to hear soobin's singing.

but with each memory of soobin, the more yeonjun realized how lonely he felt, missing soobin though he'd literally just seen him like two hours ago.

and so, choi yeonjun found himself walking down the street alone, with mere thoughts of soobin and the said boy's worn, gray hoodie his only protection against... what was that group a little ways down the street doing?


	17. ₁₇ | the smell of alcohol, sight of crimson

(this is your warning: some mature content ahead  
i'm sorry)

* * *

one thought ran through yeonjun's head.

"i shouldn't have come this way."

why was he alone? yeonjun had told soobin that he'd wait for him after school to finish his detention, but soobin must have forgotten, or not heard him, because, after detention had ended, yeonjun had been left behind.

whatever the case, yeonjun was now alone, walking down a street that would take him past the loud group of individuals he could hear and smell how drunk they were from far away.

he was so scared. without a doubt.

yeonjun squeezed his phone tightly in his hand.

"run away, run away..  
i dare you to do something..  
i'm waiting on you again..."

yeonjun paused the music and disconnected the earbuds, stuffing them into the front pocket of soobin's hoodie. he tried to reassure himself that there was nothing to worry about.

a last text to his mother had stated, "i'm going down the last street, like 5 min away."

yeonjun hurried his steps, hunching his shoulders, and hoped that the group would ignore him if he just let them be.

and, that might have been the case.

had the group not included a certain guy named wonwoo park, the point guard and captain of the school's basketball team, and full of students from his school.

as yeonjun walked briskly past them, a few whistles broke out.

yeonjun gritted his teeth and tugged at his backpack straps nervously.

"awe shit," wonwoo grinned maliciously. "if it isn't yeonjun choi."

a girl snickered, "isn't that the faggot boy from your school?"

"well i'll be; it is," the boy laughed.

yeonjun froze up as the group surrounded him. the smell of alcohol stung his nose; it was on their breaths and clothes, encompassing him in a suffocating hold.

"aw, what's this?" a second boy snatched yeonjun's phone from his grasp.

"h-hey-!" yeonjun tried to protest but two others grabbed him and held him down.

"damn, look at this," wonwoo jeered, holding out the phone to his friends, which showed the lockscreen yeonjun had chosen recently.

it was a picture taken at the friendly match between the girls' soccer team from another school and their boys' team. soobin had just scored a goal, and there was a big smile lighting up his dumb face.

yeonjun loved it so much.

"look, he likes that one dude from the soccer team," wonwoo jeered and laughed with his friends.

another girl mumbled under her breath, "i mean, can ya blame him?"

"so since you like dudes, i guess that means you're attracted to me, huh," wonwoo grinned maliciously.

yeonjun looked him dead in the eyes. "i may like boys, but i am not attracted to you in the least."

his friends barked with laughter and wonwoo's face became slowly enraged.

"shut the hell up."

wonwoo quickly threw a jab at yeonjun's head, and yeonjun closed his eyes instinctively, the shock of pain on his cheek bone shocking him completely. heat burst to life on the right side of his face and yeonjun fell down, gasping and using his feet to scooch himself back to get away. he was scrambling to get up, but for some reason he kept slipping and falling.

wonwoo spat onto the ground, picking up a bottle from the pavement. he smashed it and broke it in half. he bent over to pick up the upper half of the bottle by the neck, a dangerous light in his eyes.

"wonwoo, what the fuck," said one of the boys in surprise as he walked steadily towards yeonjun.

one of the girls, the one who had not participated in holding yeonjun down or making fun of him, stepped in front of wonwoo, stopping him. "you're drunk. go home before you do something you'll regret," she said coldly.

"this bitchass-" wonwoo tried to protest, but was cut off by one of the other boys.

"no way! did you hear this dude right here dressed up like a girl?! that's fucking disgusting," he yelled out.

the girl from before fell silent.

"he probably even tried to go into a girl's bathroom," another called out. "you wanna be a girl, you ?"

multiple arms reached out to yank him up, and yeonjun was trapped.

"no!! please!" yeonjun tried to break free, but it seemed that hearing about his dress-up tales had made everyone turn against him.

"alright, i'm out," a boy shook his head. "we didn't even want to be here, and i'm not gonna participate in a crime."

the girl who tried to defend yeonjun before silently followed beside him as they walked off.

now yeonjun was twisting wildly while wonwoo once again walked forward.

as the adrenaline kicked in, yeonjun took note of everything as it happened.

hands clamped tightly around his arm and pushed up the sleeve of soobin's hoodie, revealing the skin of yeonjun's arm and a perfect target.

wonwoo began the first cut as he spoke.

"people like you shouldn't exist," he frowned deeply, angrily. "you're the lowest scum of the earth."

_because i like someone?!_

the pain was mind-boggling and burned furiously in yeonjun's brain. he yelled out and tried to break free, but the group of boys around him were too strong.

yeonjun's heartbeat pounded furiously in his ears and he felt the tears sting his eyes while he sobbed wildly.

the other girl that had stayed behind shook her head and turned away. "i'm gonna be sick."

yeonjun pleaded for them to stop. as far as he saw it, he did nothing wrong. he had dressed up as june because soobin asked him to, and when he had to fix his makeup at the dance, yerim stood outside the boys' bathroom on guard while he used it.

so why was he being hurt like this now?

_why are they doing this to me?_

wonwoo stepped back and seemed to continue talking, but yeonjun couldn't hear over the roaring in his ears. he looked in panic at his arm and the sight of crimson caused him to wonder how he even had that much blood in the first place.

what happened next, yeonjun could not process, but it seemed they had had their fun with him and were now bored; they left yeonjun thrown on the ground and discarded.

as one boy passed, he stepped on yeonjun's arm and ground his shoe into the wounds there, causing yeonjun to scream.

or, at least, he thought he did. he couldn't hear.

after some time of shock and wincing at the sharp stabs of pain that were just ghostly reminders of the event, yeonjun pushed himself up and cradled his arm to his chest.

but now he saw the blood was everywhere, and yeonjun gasped when he realized that now it was on soobin's hoodie.

"oh man, he's gonna be so mad," yeonjun mumbled to himself, struggling to take it off with one arm.

what woojin had been here? 

_woojin called out, "hey jun!"_

_yeonjun looked up to see one of soobin's friends running at him, beside a taller, black-haired boy, who had always intimidated yeonjun because he was so silent._

_"don't call me jun."_

_"sorry, jun," woojin had grinned, irritating yeonjun to his core._

_"what do you want?"_

_"oh... just wonderin if you're gonna walk home with someone or something."_

_why was everyone suddenly so interested in what he did with his time? yeonjun had snapped back something about how he was waiting for soobin and went on to go to mr. kang's room._

what if woojin had been walking with him? would this still have happened? would woojin have let it happen because yeonjun deserved it?

a few feet away, a phone lit up with a call, triggering yeonjun's curiosity.

oh, it was his phone.

yeonjun scrambled to pick it up and anxiously answered, "hello?"

"yeonjunie where are you," soobin asked on the other end. "your mom sent me to look for you; i just left the house."

tears filled yeonjun's eyes again as everything clashed together in his mind all at once. "i.." he felt like he was choking, struggling to breathe or speak.

_soobin's hoodie is all messed up._

soobin asked, "what's wrong?" then he let out a sharp breath. "oof, there's a kid on the ground, hang on."

yeonjun looked up in surprise as he realized he heard soobin's voice near him and not just through the phone.

soobin stepped closer, slowly, and squinted. "yo... you okay?"

yeonjun blinked, causing the first tear to fall, smiling bitterly. soobin always had poor eyesight but refused to wear his glasses.

"oh my god," soobin yelled as he finally realized who he was staring at. "yeonjun-!" he rushed over and dropped to his knees, staring with wide eyes at the mess. "what the hell happened?! are you okay?! did you fall?! oh my god, there's glass everywhere; be careful!"

yeonjun opened his mouth to speak, wanting to confess what happened. he was sorry that soobin's hoodie was messed up; they hadn't let him take it off.

"did you fall?" soobin looked at him worriedly. "where else are you hurt?"

yeonjun pressed his lips together again, a grim look on his face. he answered, "y-yeah. i fell." he turned his head away to hide the guilty look on his face, and to not let soobin see the rush of color he usually got once he told a lie.

"oh shit, your face is swollen!" soobin motioned to the right side of yeonjun's face.

he helped yeonjun stand up. "oh- oh man," yeonjun mumbled as a dizzy feeling struck him.

with the bloodstains on soobin's hoodie, it looked like he had just murdered someone.

as soobin tried to get him to walk, yeonjun apologized, "your hoodie is all dirty... sorry."

"junie, are you kidding me right now?" soobin dragged yeonjun along. "we have to get you home; maybe someone can drive you to the hospital-"

"n-no, no hospital," yeonjun cried out. he stared at soobin desperately. "please don't tell my mom..." now the tears gushing out were from the panic and fear.

soobin didn't understand why it was so bad for yeonjun's mom to know, but he seemed so desperate that soobin decided to listen.

for now, at least.

so when they arrived, yeonjun quietly slunk upstairs while soobin faced his parents, explaining to them that yeonjun was tired and he wanted to sleep.

"without having dinner?" yeonjun's mom looked suspicious, and with good reason. yeonjun would never skip a meal unless something was wrong.

soobin quickly replied, "he said he ate at school."

"oh..." she moved to the kitchen and motioned for soobin to follow. "thanks for going to look for him, soobin. take this home to your parents; i made too much because i thought yeonjun was going to eat as soon as he got back."

soobin obliged and started to walk away, pretending to seem like he was going home, but as soon as the front door closed, soobin ran around the side of the house to the open window that led to yeonjun's room.

he climbed in and saw yeonjun laying down, eyes closed. soobin rushed over to him and woke him up, rationalizing, "in the movies, they never let the injured person sleep so you gotta stay awake! we have to wash your arm anyway."

"whyyyyy," yeonjun whined, but allowed soobin to lead him into the bathroom to wash off the blood.

soobin helped yeonjun peel off the hoodie, and let it drop to the ground carelessly while he turned on the faucet.

"soobin, i'm sorry i got your hoodie dirty," yeonjun apologized again.

"oh my god, yeonjun, stop," soobin said forcibly, running the sink's water over yeonjun's arm.

"but it's like, your favorite one," yeonjun insisted.

soobin scrubbed lightly with his fingers at the dried blood, washing it away silently. yeonjun was just the type to fixate on one part of the problem that wasn't bad at all, but he tried to make it seem worse than the other, more scary problem in an effort to deny its existence.

yeonjun whispered, "i'm sorry."

soobin successfully washed away the dried blood and had started to speak when his eyes caught the very deliberate cuts into yeonjun's skin.

soobin faltered, causing yeonjun to lean over to look at his arm. he widened his eyes. how could he explain away the letters "f a g" which were slowly leaking blood at a less alarming rate than earlier?

"yeonjun-"

"please don't tell my mom."

"how can i not? who did this?!"

"i fell," yeonjun insisted, turning off the water and trying to dry his arm with the hem of the shirt he wore.

soobin picked up his hoodie from the ground and lightly dried yeonjun's arm. "seems pretty convenient that the glass from the ground cut 'fag' into your arm." his voice was cold with anger. 

yeonjun walked out of the bathroom without speaking.

when soobin followed, yeonjun assured him, "they didn't say anything about you. it's just that everyone knows i dressed up like june, so don't worry."

"yeonjun, they fucking cut your arm," soobin cussed, his voice rising in volume. "i bet they were the ones that hit your face, too, huh? you're really telling me not to worry?"

"shut up; my parents are gonna hear," yeonjun hissed, going over to sit down on his bed.

soobin dropped down next to him and made a big effort to lower his voice. "yeonjun. i don't care what they know, or what they said. they hurt you. who were they?"

yeonjun shook his head. "i don't know."

"you're a horrible liar and you know that."

yeonjun curled up on his side, hugging his knees to his chest, and stared at soobin. "will you forgive me? for messing up your hoodie."

"please stop. i don't care about the stupid hoodie," soobin met yeonjun's stare with his own.

"but i do," yeonjun whispered, holding soobin's stare.

"fine. i'll buy you a new one," soobin sighed, starting to tuck the blanket around yeonjun.

yeonjun kicked his legs out, disrupting the tucking, and pouted, crossing his arms. "i don't want a _new_ one. it has to be _yours_."

"don't you have any sweaters of your own," soobin argued.

"sweaters, yes. hoodies, no."

"use sweaters then. hoodies aren't as warm."

"but- i want _your_ hoodie."

"mine? why mine specifically? if you want a hoodie, we can just go buy one or something."

"ah, forget it," yeonjun turned so his back was to soobin.

"okay." soobin started to get up, causing yeonjun to sit up.

"where are you going?"

"home; it's late, junie. i have to sleep, i guess," soobin shrugged.

yeonjun raised his eyebrows. "soobin. it's like 10pm on a friday. what are you going to sleep early for?"

"i dunno." soobin stuck his hands in his pockets and stood there awkwardly, staring at the ground while he shuffled his feet.

there really was no reason for him to stay any longer, though. it was true that his parents might be quite angry if he didn't show up sometime today to sleep, and yeonjun's parents might not be too happy with soobin being here when he already pretended to leave.

so, soobin left.

he left the window open, however, which was quite bad, for yeonjun's mind, at least.

there was a light breeze that kept the curtains billowing, and the streetlight outside illuminated some of yeonjun's room.

but, sometime during the night, yeonjun heard the familiar crashing of glass outside, followed by the roar of laughter. it was faint, but it woke him from a restless sleep and caused him to cower in the corner of his bed that touched the wall, trembling.

and he began to see things in the dark.

yeonjun could practically trace wonwoo's silhouette in the clothes hanging in his closet. every squeak sounded like the shards of glass.

the images flashed in his mind, each one becoming like a personal nightmare. the blood all over the sleeves of soobin's hoodie. their faces full of disgust when they looked at yeonjun.

the way their lips twisted into sneers as they spat out insults. well, could he call them insults if they were true?

_the lowest scum of the earth._

he must have fallen asleep a little.

that would explain why he then saw the familiar face of jeon woong on the ground, tears gushing from his eyes, pleading for _them_ to stop. the image was hazy, as if coming from a dream.

"please! please!"

but, of course, yeonjun knew, it wasn't a dream. however terrible this memory was, it actually happened.

"what did i do?!"

and yeonjun looked over to watch three other pairs of shoes slam into different points of the small boy's bruised body.

whenever yeonjun remembered this day, he could never recall what the boys in his group had said. only woong's cries.

he felt that need to speak up, to tell them that this was wrong. but, of course, yeonjun was new to the group. they had barely accepted him, and yeonjun so badly wanted to feel like part of one.

and then they stepped in, woong's friends. yeonjun remembered how he'd stayed in the back, using a sleeve to cover his face except for his eyes, and had run away when he realized woong's friends were fighting off the bullies of yeonjun's group.

yeonjun woke up with a racing heart when, in the dream, as he was running, he'd looked back to recognize daehwi and the black-haired dude racing after him.

now, yeonjun looked around his room in panic. he was too scared to calm down, and besides, his arm itched. he scratched it without looking, and only gasped when he felt the flashes of pain with each scratch. he'd been scratching the wounds from earlier.

yeonjun felt how his face throbbed, so he gingerly touched it and felt how hot the skin of his right cheekbone was. it hurt so much.

his mind was overcome with paranoia, as if the ghosts of his past were about to come leaping through the window and strangle him in guilt.

yeonjun reached out to grab his phone from his bedside table and quickly unlocked it, his skin crawling with fear. his fingers tapped out a number so familiar, he could do it in his sleep.

without thinking, yeonjun nervously stuck a fingernail into his mouth and bit down. the phone rang so many times, yeonjun considered running away instead. he was about to give up when: "hello?" said the familiar voice on the other end, thick with sleep.

"i-i can't s-sl-sleep," yeonjun stammered out, shaking.

there was silence for a few seconds, and yeonjun began to panic even more, thinking that he'd fallen back asleep.

but when he answered, his voice was more alert.

"i'll be right over."

_click._


	18. ₁₈ | soobin's hoodie

yeonjun screamed a little when he saw someone kick aside the curtains. his voice broke in the middle of crying and he covered himself with the blanket, shaking terribly.

there was the sound of two feet finding balance on the floor again, and then soobin's voice said quietly, "junie. it's me, don't worry."

yeonjun slowly uncovered his head and recognized soobin standing there in an oversized t-shirt and loose, knee-length shorts. he had a piece of clothing in his hands.

soobin stepped closer slowly, his eyes on yeonjun the whole time, seeming to ask wordlessly if yeonjun was okay with it.

when yeonjun didn't protest, soobin stopped directly beside him and held out the clothing he'd brought.

"i wear it to sleep all the time, that's why it's all old," soobin blushed and explained nervously.

yeonjun felt like crying. it was the black hoodie he'd only ever seen in pictures; soobin never wore it whenever he was around people.

he took it with cautious hands, but then tossed it aside carelessly. sure, it was a hoodie, but what was a hoodie compared to the _owner_?

yeonjun threw his arms around soobin and cried actual tears. he kept trying to speak, to tell soobin so many things: the story of woong, to thank him for the hoodie, to apologize for waking him up in the middle of the night, to express how scared he was that wonwoo would come back.

soobin whispered, "shh, it's okay," in a low voice, then sat down and pulled yeonjun into his lap, cradling him.

yeonjun buried his face into soobin's shirt and felt the tension in his shoulders ease.

he fell asleep.  
  
  


soobin woke up with the sun shining directly through the window. the sky was bright and clear, making soobin think it was close to noon.

he felt pins and needles in his aching legs, but reluctant to move yeonjun, who was still tightly gripped to him, even in sleep. when soobin started to sit up, he winced at the sharp pain in his neck.

soobin was then faced with a dilemma as he felt the urge to use the bathroom. he slowly shifted yeonjun's weight off of himself and, after what seemed like eternity, successfully got him to lay down on the bed without waking up.

his face was all scrunched up, eyes puffy, from sleep or crying, maybe both. soobin felt his heart twist with sadness at the olive green coloring that covered the surface of yeonjun's cheek, and not to mention how he now protectively held his arm against his chest.

what happened to him?

soobin lightly brushed back the matted strands of yeonjun's hair and lightly kissed his forehead before dashing off madly.

soobin didn't think he'd taken more than five minutes, but he opened the door to yeonjun stumbling through. reflexively, soobin barely managed to catch him, and laughed, "you woke up? i didn't think you would..."

and then soobin felt how tightly yeonjun had his arms around him, and noticed that he kept moving his head up every once in awhile to glance panickingly at their immediate surroundings before ducking back down again. he was now wearing the black hoodie soobin brought him, looking, in soobin's opinion, absolutely adorable.

from outside, a car engine started up quietly, far in the distance, and yeonjun jumped in terror, yelping.

soobin recalled what donghyun had said that woong used to be, scared of his own shadow, and couldn't help but wonder if that's what yeonjun was like now.

"your, um... your parents aren't here," soobin mumbled, moving awkwardly away from the bathroom with yeonjun still embracing him.

yeonjun looked confused. "but they always wake me up and tell me before they leave anywhere."

"really? lucky." soobin managed to get them back into yeonjun's room, mostly just for them to sit down so he could be freed from yeonjun's grasp.

yeonjun caught soobin's eye. "what if they did come in? and saw you here?"

soobin's eyes widened. "oh shi-"

"i doubt it," yeonjun shook his head. "they would have had a 'stern' talk with me about having someone over without telling them. they probably just didn't want to bother me. what did you tell them yesterday?"

"i just said what you told me to tell them, that you didn't feel good," soobin answered. "and that you ate at school, so you weren't hungry."

"i miss my mom's cooking," yeonjun sighed forlornly.

there was silence for a few minutes, a lull in the conversation, as soobin contemplated either asking yeonjun if he could leave yet or to tell him about why he was so scared yesterday.

well, it didn't take a genius to figure out why yeonjun was paranoid exactly, soobin admitted, but... he wanted to know who were the people that did that to yeonjun yesterday. and, exactly what happened.

why was yeonjun even still at school in the first place? or, he could have asked soobin to walk home with him-

and then yeonjun let out a breath, saying, "i need to tell you something. something horrible, that i did."

before soobin could even speak, yeonjun was already talking again, rushing through the story, as if he both desperately needed someone to confide in and hated telling the tale at the same time.

"a-and... i thought that if i told you they were bad, you would stop hanging out with them," yeonjun finished, "so that you would never find out."

soobin was quiet, pensive. it was quite a story, and did explain why yeonjun was so hell-bent that soobin not hang out with daehwi's group so much.

"on the bright side," soobin tried, "i don't think they know you were part of the group. either that, or they didn't recognize you. or... they don't care, junie. i don't think anyone would hold it against you for being a bystander to that. it's hard to stand up to a violent group, much harder on your own."

yeonjun frowned deeply. "but, i'm not any better than the bullies."

"there were a lot of people that knew woong was being bullied and never did shit about it."

of course, soobin had not known until then that woong was the boy that had been bullied at their school, so badly that he had to be hospitalized and transferred to another school.

but a lot of people had known, and it was true that no one had cared, until it had blown up as big as it did.

"i feel terrible for it though," yeonjun curled into himself, on the verge of tears again.

soobin suggested, "if you feel that bad about it, you could apologize to woong at school. though i really don't think that's necessary. maybe, you know... maybe it's best to not remind woong of that time."

a few houses away, a dog started barking, and this sent yeonjun hurtling into soobin's arms, again, looking wildly around the room. soobin had just barely heard him cry out, "please-!"

yeonjun was shaking.

soobin lightly held him, reasoning, "i think it's gonna take awhile before you stop jumping at every little sound."

"i'm sorry," yeonjun apologized, trying to squeeze out of soobin's arms.

"no, it's okay." soobin leaned forward and turned his head so that his ear rested just above yeonjun's quickly racing heart.

after some time, yeonjun cursed and tried to scratch at the area around the now-scabbing wounds from yesterday.

"don't scratch them," soobin tried to chastise him. "or, if you do, the scars are gonna stay forever."

when yeonjun was quiet, soobin got him to sit down, and yeonjun automatically leaned the left side of his head on soobin's right shoulder. if the elder had a problem with clinginess before, it was nothing compared to now.

without really thinking, yeonjun wrapped his arms around soobin's, reaching out to hold his hand, and felt the panic started to fade away. but even if it faded, it left him with a feeling that it would be back.

"yeonjun..." soobin tried to keep his voice even and cool. "can you tell me what happened yesterday? and who it was?"

wrong time to ask. tears immediately filled yeonjun's eyes and he buried his face in soobin's arm, shaking his head.

so, soobin stopped asking.  
  
  


"are you okay?"

yeonjun flinched as soobin's question brought him out of the staring contest he was having with the floor. he looked up to make eye contact with soobin, then flitted his eyes all over the front of the school building.

after a week-long break, they were back. back to the place where yeonjun had ample opportunities to run into...

he shook his head. "yes, i'm fine."

with the familiar stubbornness he was known for, yeonjun dragged along his suitcase and hardened his face into a mask that warned everyone to stay away.

soobin chased along after him.

once they were inside, the halls were bustling with returning students all greeting each other and talking, excited for the last few months of school.

there was a roar of laughter that got louder as it continued down the hall, coming closer. yeonjun's skin paled to more of a grayish color and he froze. soobin stepped closer and immediately squeezed yeonjun's hand tightly.

the laughter turned out to be a large group of the kids who were graduating this year, as they all cheered madly about finally being able to leave the school and be adults, to start a new chapter of their young lives.

soobin recognized the hyungs in the group, with jungkook and taehyung at the center, leading everyone in the antics. everyone regarded them with awe; why not?

"c'mon, let's go this way," soobin pulled yeonjun away from the crowd that so obviously bothered him, so that they could go to their dorms and wait for the rest of their group to show up.

but as soon as they got there, beomgyu ambushed them with a hug, and yeonjun actually yelled, jumping out of everyone's grasps. he had fallen to the ground and kept looking around wildly, as if he was seeing something there that no one else could.

beomgyu said quietly, "woah? yeonjun hyung, are you o-"

"yeonjun, hey, it's fine, you're okay," soobin immediately spoke, trying to bring yeonjun back from the memories. "look, look, you're at school, in the dorms. it's okay."

yeonjun blinked a few times and his eyes became alert again, and he pushed himself up slowly, cradling his arm against his chest protectively.

"i'm sorry," beomgyu apologized, though he was still confused at the reaction.

yeonjun also said sorry, and insisted beomgyu had done nothing wrong.

soobin started to help yeonjun into their dorm when kai suddenly rushed down the hall, calling out, "soobin, soobin soobin!"

yeonjun shot kai a warning look as he stood too close to soobin for yeonjun's taste. he listened intently to their conversation.

as kai asked if he could speak privately with soobin, beomgyu also nervously admitted that he wanted to tell yeonjun something. soobin hesitated for a while, hoping yeonjun would be okay being alone.

he entered taehyun and beomgyu's room while yeonjun led beomgyu into their dorm.

as soon as the door closed, kai immediately rushed out, "i have a crush on someone and i need your help."

soobin raised his eyebrows, shocked by the information. "wow, kai... i... i don't know what to say."

kai sat down on one of the beds nearby. "don't say anything about it," he shook his head. "i don't want anyone to know. i... i just thought... because you have a relationship... you might have some good advice for me." he sent soobin a happy, hopeful grin.

soobin thought back to his past with yeonjun. how did they even start anyway?

oh. he flushed at the memories. right.

"i'm sorry kai," he laughed nervously, "but i don't have any good advice for you. june was the one to come after me."

kai nodded slowly, humming tunelessly to himself. "ah... play hard to get. i see your strategy."

"n-no, i wasn't-"

"thanks, soobin hyung."

"but i didn't-"

"i appreciate it," kai grinned, standing up from the bed he sat on, and walked to the door without letting soobin explain.

soobin called out, "w-wait! who is it?"

kai placed a hand on the door knob and turned back to look at soobin with a shy smile. "taehyun."

oh. soobin was frozen in surprise, rooted to his spot.

beomgyu entered the room then, also wearing a huge grin. he barely acknowledged soobin as he passed, rushing to go unpack.

soobin ran to their dorm next door, slamming the door shut and catching yeonjun's eye. "we need to talk. oh my god."

yeonjun nodded rapidly.

soobin began quickly, "kai has a crush on taehyun."

at the same time, yeonjun had said, "beomgyu has a crush on taehyun."

"what?! no," they spoke in unison, then stopped.

"oh no," yeonjun whispered.

soobin asked aloud, "what are we gonna do?"

"there's nothing we can do," yeonjun insisted. "we just have to let them be, and let them figure it out. who knows? maybe taehyun likes one of them."

"are we thinking of the same taehyun?" soobin gave yeonjun a look.

yeonjun reworded, "or maybe he doesn't like either of them that way."

that was more like it. soobin nodded. "i hope they don't fight over this. wait, what did you tell beomgyu?"

yeonjun scratched his eyebrow and avoided eye contact. "i may have told him to go through with it. did you tell kai the same thing?"

"i didn't tell kai anything," soobin insisted. yeonjun nodded, more relaxed, until soobin continued, "but he did interpret that i told him to play hard to get."

"what?!" yeonjun widened his eyes and reached for a pillow, smacking soobin silly with it. "you idiot! why would you do that to him?!"

"taehyun doesn't like obvious, flirty gestures anyway," soobin argued. "maybe i helped kai, actually."

"they make him feel awkward, but we don't know if he likes them or not, you dummy," yeonjun sighed in an exasperated way.

soobin reasoned, "well... kai is kai; he'll probably end up confessing by the end of the day."

"oh, are you starting a competition with me now?" yeonjun got a twinkle in his eye. "how much you wanna bet tae and gyu get together?"

while maybe it wasn't the most conventional thing to bet on, soobin was living for the fact that yeonjun's eyes were bright again.


	19. ₁₉ | aftershock

"yeonjun."

the blue haired boy blinked and finally returned to the setting of the dull classroom, and realized he'd been called upon. 

mr. kang expectantly looked at him. 

yeonjun felt alarmed. when did he get to third period english? he didn't even remember going to his first class. 

he looked over in panic at soobin, who sat diagonally from his seat, in the column of desks to the left of yeonjun's. 

soobin mouthed, "you ok?" which, yeonjun did appreciate, but was not the help he needed. 

several students turned around in their desks and stared directly at him. yeonjun felt his right cheek throb quickly with the pace of his heartbeat and he tried to swallow back the fear. he touched the cheek that was pulsing as his mind raced to understand what was going on.

mr. kang understood yeonjun's panicked look and repeated, "can you tell me what the blue curtains in this story might represent?"

yeonjun glanced at the open textbook on his desk. they were reading something in there that had a crudely-drawn picture of a person being entangled in blue curtains. 

woah, since when did they read such terrifying shit in their literature class?

"he's trapped. no one can see that the dude needs help and he can't see that there could be others that can help him," yeonjun blurted on the spot, grasping at straws. 

mr. kang raised his eyebrows and nodded. "wow, that was a great connection! i like that you mentioned..."

and yeonjun tuned out again, staring directly at that image in the textbook. the man being strangled. unable to get away. 

chills raised bumps on his skin. his stomach churned as he remembered how helpless he'd felt, being trapped in a group, their arms holding him down...

yeonjun felt queasy, closing his eyes to try and root himself in the moment. if he wasn't careful, sometimes he could slip back into the memories... 

he looked up when he saw soobin sit at the empty desk beside yeonjun, as was the norm now, and move it closer. 

"we're doing partner work," soobin explained, knowing that yeonjun had not paid attention to the instructions. "we have to annotate this." 

yeonjun asked, "when did it become third period? i don't even remember how i woke up or anything."

"you've been kinda dazed all day," soobin whispered back, as there were always people watching and eavesdropping, and shrugged. he continued to look over the text, appearing to actually concentrate on his work. "i kept going to each of your classes after the bell rang and you were always sitting at your desk; i helped you get to class. you really don't remember that?"

yeonjun shook his head. "i don't like the hallways very much." he waited a few seconds before continuing, "thanks."

soobin nodded, "don't worry. i gotchu."

a smile tugged at the corners of yeonjun's lips. 

"by the way, how the heck did you come up with that symbolism on the spot?" soobin furrowed his eyebrows. "i didn't even think that he was trapped or couldn't see."

"they're covering his face," yeonjun pointed at the image. "and his hands are all twisted in them here."

"oh! damn, you're a genius," soobin mumbled, writing a few words down in the margins. 

yeonjun grinned at the compliment and looked back at his own paper. 

when the bell rang, soobin walked back to his desk to get his things, and yeonjun was just starting to get up when a shadow fell over his desk. 

he immediately began to shake and sat back down, looking up to see who it was. 

the boy began to speak when soobin showed up, sending him an annoyed look, as if daring him to say a word. the boy evidently changed his mind and quickly rushed off. 

soobin watched him leave and then turned to face yeonjun, an air of innocence to him that yeonjun couldn't fathom. 

"you have no idea how terrifying you are, do you?" yeonjun stood up and made sure to walk beside soobin, but not too close. 

soobin laughed lightly.

* * *

after soobin's last class before lunch was done, he started to motion for kai to wait for him, until woojin stopped him.

"yo, soobin, hang on. i think daehwi wanted to talk to you; could you sit with us today?"

soobin thought for a minute. he figured, yeonjun would be okay with kai, beomgyu, and taehyun there. he didn't think his own presence mattered that much to yeonjun.

"sure." he looked over and shook his head at kai to tell him to go on. 

later, when soobin was standing at the far corner of the school with daehwi's group, he felt slightly uneasy at how far away he was from everyone else. 

"yo, relax, we're not like that," woojin immediately cut into soobin's worries, noticing the wary look he had. 

soobin shook his head. "no, i'm just worried for yeon... you know, my friends."

daehwi nodded. "i'll try to be quick. i just wanted to make sure you're not leaving yeonjun totally alone at any time while he's at school."

"why?"

"i just heard something..." daehwi pleaded, "make sure he's never alone. there's this kid... wonwoo park. he's got it out for yeonjun."

"what? how do you know? what do you mean?"

youngmin motioned for woojin, donghyun, and woong to leave the conversation and walk a little further away so they couldn't hear.

"i have science with him," daehwi explained, "he was talking to someone about... yeonjun."

"what did he say." it wasn't a question. soobin's face was angry.

daehwi said nervously, "he said a lot of things... something about yeonjun wearing a dress at the dance?" 

soobin's face went blank. oh god, was that why people were whispering about him? how did everyone find out?

"and..." daehwi continued slowly, "he said some pretty vulgar things about yeonjun's... body."

there was silence while soobin tried to sort out his emotions. he was so angry at how someone could say that... so sorry that it was his idea that had put yeonjun at risk like this... wondering if this wonwoo kid had been the one to attack yeonjun... and very, very scared. 

"just, please be careful," daehwi insisted. "i'm glad you at least walked home with him on friday; i was trying to look for you to let you know, but-"

soobin cut in, "friday? what do you mean?"

"yeonjun said he was gonna wait for you to finish detention so he could walk home with you," daehwi moved his hands around while he talked. when soobin's face became scared and guilty, daehwi exclaimed, "YOU DIDN'T WALK HOME WITH HIM?!"

"i didn't know he was waiting for me!" soobin felt like crying. no wonder yeonjun had been so late walking home. if soobin had realized that yeonjun was waiting... 

would he not be permanently scarred today?

"did something... happen?" daehwi stared directly at soobin's face to see the truth. soobin was quiet and avoided eye contact. daehwi figured, whatever the case, yeonjun was well enough to show back up at school and didn't seem to have injuries... he then asked, "yeonjun is with your friends right now, right?" at soobin's slow nod, he continued, "though, i've seen your friends, and... wonwoo always walks with a pack... not sure if that would be enough."

soobin felt himself tense up. "you're right. i'll go look for them."

he ran off quickly, towards the tree that their group usually sat under, searching for that head of blue hair in a sea of multiple colors. 

but, someone stopped him, grabbing his arm lightly to hold him, before soobin could get close enough to look for yeonjun. 

lucas looked serious. "soobin, we need to talk."

soobin looked around as several other teammates from the soccer team surrounded him. 

"it's about... yeonjun," minho nodded, and a somber mood fell over them. 

"can it wait?" soobin kept throwing glances over at the tree, finally spotting a blue-haired boy sitting in the middle of a group. he relaxed slightly. 

"not really." lucas began, "there's no easy way to have this conversation, but... we've been hearing some things about yeonjun, and-"

"what, like him at the dance? wearing a dress and makeup," soobin supplied, making eye contact with every single one of them. "you think that's messed up? he didn't do it 'cause he wanted to. i made him do it. so leave yeonjun alone, and, if you're gonna attack someone, attack me."

hyunjin raised his eyebrows. "what a speech. get it, soobean."

"is no one gonna ask why..?" seungmin arched an eyebrow. 

"wow, soobin's such a good friend," lucas winked exaggeratingly.

"guess not."

"you always say that," soobin frowned. "it kinda seems like you're making fun of us."

"well..."

soobin was impatient now. "alright, fine. yes, we're not friends. it's, uh... more than that."

"ah, you guys are homies," mark nodded in understanding. 

"no. not exactly-"

"wait a minute." jaemin stepped in. "is there hand holding?"

"yes..?"

"oh, that's boyfriend stuff," jaemin concluded. 

"no, no, wait," minho shook his head. "hugs and hand holding is still homie tingz. chris and i do that all the time."

"ok, cuddling then; do y'all cuddle?"

"no, socks are the most important. where are the socks at all times?"

"nuh-uh. have y'all ever done something without saying the **k e y** phrase?"

"what's the key phrase?"

"no h-"

soobin cut in, "yeonjunie insists on wearing my hoodies all the time."

they were silent for a few seconds while everyone debated this. 

mark nodded, "oh hell yeah. they're dating."

soobin seemed perplexed at their reactions.

he looked so clueless that lucas laughed, "you do know we're just kidding, right? we been knew. it's not like you guys are _that_ good at hiding."

"we're not?" soobin felt defeated. he really had thought...

renjun held up a hand to speak. "and, we weren't gonna insult yeonjun. we just noticed that people are saying really bad things about him and we wanted to ask you if we're allowed to defend him."

everyone nodded collectively, looking to soobin for the verdict. 

"are you kidding me? of fucking course you can."

they cheered and soobin felt like jumping into the air. "do you guys know who wonwoo is? wonwoo park?"

lucas asked, "isn't he the captain of the basketball team?"

"oh yeah, that dude said some really bad things about yeonjun," hyunjin grimaced. "i wanted to smack the shit outta him."

"what did he say?"

"i don't think you should hear that," seungmin jumped to intervene before hyunjin could say a word. "anyway, you seemed rushed to get somewhere; you should get on going now."

soobin, once reminded, said a quick goodbye before hurrying back over to the tree, headed right for yeonjun, keeping his eyes on his blue hair. 

then, soobin froze in place. the boy got up, and the others in his group called out a name that wasn't yeonjun's, just as soobin saw that he was most definitely not yeonjun.

where was he?

soobin found beomgyu sitting with taehyun and kai, but no yeonjun. he sprinted over to them and dropped down in a panic to ask, "where's yeonjunie?"  
  
"oh, hi to you too," beomgyu made a face and turned away, pretending to be annoyed with the lack of a proper greeting. 

taehyun laughed at beomgyu's antics and answered, "um, yeonjun hyung never showed up, and, since you also didn't, we figured you guys were together somewhere."

soobin made a noise of frustration and continued his search. 

as soobin left, kai looked at taehyun and beomgyu nervously. "speaking of yeonjun hyung, did you guys hear...?"

"i doubt it's true," taehyun shook his head. "yeonjun hyung would never force himself on soobin hyung. we all know soobin hyung's super shy and yeonjun hyung isn't like that."

"but, the dress? at the dance? i think that could be true," beomgyu nodded. "we should have known; soobin's way too shy to even talk to a girl."

"c'mon, june and yeon _ **jun**_? how did i never catch that," taehyung shook his head. "it seems so obvious now."

kai shrugged. "none of us really knew. so, then, are they dating or not?"

beomgyu widened his eyes and screwed up his lips, wondering how to answer without spilling the secret yeonjun begged him not to say, all because of how sensitive soobin was about it. 

taehyung managed, "well, they have always been really close."

"are you kidding? yeonjun wears soobin's hoodie all the time, whenever we're not supposed to wear the uniform, and, remember when he sat on soobin's lap? right in front of my mac and cheese," kai shook his head. 

taehyun looked at beomgyu. "you're pretty quiet now. what's wrong?"

beomgyu hummed, "i'm not sure what to think. i think we're over-analyzing."

"you know, don't you?" taehyun angled his head to the side. "after we agreed on the plan to find out, you never told me what yeonjun told you!"

kai's mouth fell open. "what?! spill, spill the tea! are they?!"

* * *

the bell chimed, so soobin had to stop his frantic searching and head to the locker rooms for soccer. 

he was so scared that he contemplated skipping class to look for yeonjun, but soobin figured that yeonjun would head there if things were okay. and, if they weren't, soobin could easily leave class to look for him.

but when he got to the locker rooms, there was a huge group of the student athletes and others who had normal gym that period blocking the entrance, and they were all arguing and speaking loudly over each other. they seemed to be refusing to enter.

soobin pushed through them to get inside. why didn't they want to go in?

he rushed to the back, where the sports kids had their things, and noticed jeno and chris standing in front of yeonjun's locker, discussing something in low tones. 

"have you guys seen yeonjun?" soobin stopped near them. 

chris nodded, pointing, "he's getting changed in the bathroom."

soobin let out a breath, allowing his shoulders to relax, and realized just how tensed up he had been. he went to go stand outside of the bathroom and called out, "yeonjunie?"

"y-yeah?" yeonjun's voice sounded soft and scared. 

"are you okay? i was looking for you all lunch period."

yeonjun opened the door. "i was looking for _you_ , idiot!" he lightly pushed soobin's chest back and walked out of the restroom, wearing jeans and soobin's black hoodie, carrying a stained uniform in his arms. 

"hey, is everything okay?" soobin wondered why jeno and chris were here with yeonjun, as if they had escorted him here or something. 

when they saw yeonjun, the two stood together and covered up yeonjun locker, looking worried. "well..." chris didn't seem to want to talk.

"i already saw it," yeonjun told them. "move; i want to put my uniform in there." 

they slowly uncovered it, and soobin grimaced at the names and drawings that were now all over yeonjun's locker. 

yeonjun turned around and explained, "some kids tried to corner me, i guess. my uniform got messed up. chris and jeno got rid of them though, don't worry."

a voice interrupted the somber conversation. "why the hell is everyone blocking the entrance like that?" namjoon and the rest of the hyungs showed up, irritated. 

jimin angled his head to the side, looking directly at yeonjun. "yeonjun? you okay?"

yeonjun nodded, thanking jimin. 

jungkook laughed in a sarcastic way. "did y'all hear what they were saying? no one wants to change in here with yeonjun. they're saying dumb shit."

yeonjun hung his head dejectedly, and soobin reached out to hold his hand. 

and then, that's when soobin panicked. "wait, basketball practices are right now, too, huh?"

taehyung nodded, "yeah, all sports practice during this period. why?"

soobin noticed the fear that spread through yeonjun's face, and soobin insisted, "don't worry. you'll be okay. he's not gonna get anywhere near you."

yeonjun looked confused. "wait, what?"

"oh, wonwoo," jungkook supplied. "that dude's not good news. he really ruins basketball's reputation. honestly, he's probably the whole reason the teams have beef."

taehyung asked, "oh, was he the one talking about yeonjun's legs-?"

"tae!!" jimin quickly covered taehyung's mouth before he could continue. 

but yeonjun had heard enough to look even more scared and embarrassed.

the number of voices echoing through the locker room grew as more of the soccer team filtered through.

"man, it's a whole mess out there," woojin grumbled. 

"just like my life," hyunjin added under his breath.

felix looked to chris before asking in general, "what are we gonna do?"

yeonjun couldn't help it. he impulsively walked over to hug soobin, his heart racing with fear. he was prepared to apologize for doing it in front of everyone, until-

soobin wrapped his arms around yeonjun and held him tightly. without hesitating, soobin began to rub slow, comforting circles on yeonjun's back, conversing with the rest of the team.

in front of everyone. and he didn't have to dress up to get it.

yeonjun leaned his head on soobin's chest and closed his eyes.

|| author's note: so we're finally caught up with the wattpad version sdkfjskdjf updates will happen a lot less frequently now :,) i'll try to update as i write chapters :,)))


	20. ₂₀ | peace

soft music played, a piano-like melody. it was calming, to say the least. a white, gentle light hit his closed eyelids, adding to the peaceful atmosphere. 

_this night, where stars are asleep_

quietly, voices began to sing along to the tune, but they did not disrupt the harmonious nature. 

_a familiar and unfamiliar river  
_ _over the ashen grey  
_ _did you wait alone for me?_

one of the earbuds was lightly removed, and yeonjun opened one eye to look at who dared.

soobin grinned and stuck the earbud in his ear to listen to the song. 

_our clumsy promises_

_a small island from which secrets began_

they sat there for awhile, listening to the music play. wind blew softly, ruffling their hair, and there was a bank of clouds covering the sun, though there was a lot of light. 

yeonjun wished it would have lasted forever.

he thought back to then, trying to keep that tranquility in mind while he walked along with the group, heading outside for their sports time. 

poor mr. byun was trying to get the angry kids to go inside and get changed for their class, though it seemed impossible. the other teachers tried to get him to give up, but mr. byun seemed dead set on getting them inside, which didn't happen until yeonjun walked out, keeping his eyes trained on the ground from embarrassment.

"i didn't go through eight extra years of school just for you asshats to disrespect me like this," mr. byun was, for the first time anyone had ever seen, angry.

now everyone filed into the locker room obediently, and yeonjun continued to walk along with his loud and large group of people.

they hung out for most of the period; since the season was over, there was not much to do. 

yeonjun was tightly clinging to soobin, giddy with happiness as he witnessed the others confront soobin about rumors and having soobin actually confess the truth. 

apparently there was one rumor going around that yeonjun had forced soobin into [ **REDACTED** ], especially since soobin was known for being quiet and shy, not at all likely to have a relationship. 

(this made soobin protest and insist that he was so likely to indeed have a relationship.)

all throughout this, some got up in two's and three's to hang out somewhere else, or to walk around on their own, though quite a few stayed. 

soobin felt happy in a big group, proud of himself for managing to create so many friendships in the span of the school year, and thankful that so many people supported them.

they even attempted to include yeonjun in their conversations, though yeonjun had spent most of the year keeping to himself and not going out of his way to make friends. 

that beautiful happiness was interrupted when a basketball flew into their group, catching the side of seungmin's face, who was sitting to yeonjun's left. the poor boy let out a yelp of surprise, clutching his face as he fell over, and several of his friends clambered over to see what happened. 

hyunjin flew up and grabbed the basketball from the ground, the look of a madman on his face. "what the shit?! oh hell no!" he quickly stepped through the obstacles in his way and headed straight in the direction from which the ball had come.

yeonjun asked the boy if he was okay. seungmin joked, "there's those amazing goalie reflexes we all know i have, huh?"

"bitch, don't joke like that when you're hurt," changbin interjected angrily. he and a few of their friends were both trying to give him space and also worriedly make sure he was okay.

several others stood up along with hyunjin, especially when they noticed wonwoo and a few other basketball players had been the ones to throw the ball. 

"oh, so you wanna fight," jungkook called out, starting to walk over. 

wonwoo shrugged, grinning. "my bad, y'all. i was aiming for _the other one_."

soobin started to get up, but yeonjun grabbed his arm fiercely, insisting, "no! just sit down. they've got it."

"but-" soobin tried to protest. 

"if they get into a fight, i don't want you to get hurt," yeonjun pleaded, then added with a tiny smile, as if trying to lighten the mood, "or worse, _expelled_."

soobin rolled his eyes but sat down, watching as the exchange started to escalate. 

chris insisted, "guys, there's no need to fight. i'd just appreciate it if you apologized to seungmin, and left yeonjun alone."

"you'd _appreciate it_? god, what are we, seven?" wonwoo spat onto the blacktop. when yeonjun saw that, he jolted in his seat and grabbed soobin's arm.

"what, can't let a dude fight his own battles," one of the basketball players jeered. 

taehyung was trying to get jungkook to sit and calm down. "kook, come on, please sit down!" but jungkook didn't budge from where he was planted, no matter how hard taehyung seemed to yank at him. 

woojin was offering seungmin some help to walk to the nurse's office. he explained calmly, "your jaw could have been broken or something... that looks like it really hurts.. what if you have a concussion?"

seungmin seemed on the verge of being convinced, but he was also concerned for their friends who were progressing in anger and violence by the second. hyunjin especially, seemed about four seconds away from swinging.

while everyone started arguing, wonwoo grinned and tried to nonchalantly walk towards where yeonjun and soobin were sitting, but hyunjin pushed him back, starting to yell. 

soobin began to get up, causing yeonjun to wildly protest, hanging onto his arm. 

"no, i'm not gonna fight," soobin tried to soothe yeonjun. "let's go get a teacher; i'm pretty sure this is gonna get violent."

yeonjun nodded and followed soobin closely, holding his hand. 

there were shouts and insults sounding from behind them, but yeonjun closed his eyes and tuned them out, keeping that peaceful memory in his mind. one day, he knew, he and soobin could relive that tranquility. 

they found mr. byun by the locker rooms and showed him from afar the fight that had just broken out. as they hurried over, soobin witnessed chris actually lunge out and throw the first punch, which surprised him. 

chris was a nonviolent person who was always trying to keep peace between all discussions in class, so he had always struck soobin as a nonviolent person. he knew the person chris had punched must have really deserved it. 

mr. byun screamed the entire time while they ran over, especially when chris' punch to one of wonwoo's friends had made everyone start fighting. 

well, just a few people were actually taking part in the violence. but it was a thorough exaggeration. 

hyunjin seemed to want to take on wonwoo, who was not interested in fighting. the boy seemed to be looking around, searching for something. 

mr. byun tried to step in and break up the fights, but there was too much to stop. 

once wonwoo noticed the teachers were quickly converging on them, he seemed to angrily cut his losses and back up, grunting something to his friends. 

soobin stepped to hide yeonjun from view, especially when he saw wonwoo lock eyes with them and grin maliciously. 

as mr. byun and another teacher broke up the fight, they strained to hear what was going on, but couldn't quite catch the words. 

one of wonwoo's friends was nursing a quickly-swelling eye, and the other had to keep spitting out blood every once in awhile. chris kept shaking his wrist and wincing when he closed his hand into a fist. jungkook was staring at wonwoo with murder in his eyes, and hyunjin looked like he was about two words away from flying off the handle again. 

a few other of their friends were surrounding them, and as mr. byun questioned something, this started up a few loud, angry arguments. the two teachers managed to calm everyone down again, then decided to lead the group to the office. 

"hey, mark!" soobin managed to catch the black-haired boy's attention as he walked past. "what happened?"

mark hummed, "...long story short, that wonwoo kid's goin to jail."

"wait what-"

mark continued walking away, and jisung, a more quiet, tiny freshman on the bench for the team, followed closely beside him, talking. 

yeonjun reached out to ask changbin what had happened, as the older, dark-haired boy had stayed behind, visibly fuming. 

changbin motioned angrily, "they're trying to blame it on chris because he hit that kid first."

"why did he hit him? i know chris doesn't like fighting," soobin questioned. 

changbin insisted, "neither does hyunjin! man, none of us are very good at fighting either, but that was really irritating! poor seungmin..."

"at least they got caught this time," yeonjun nodded, a grim look on his face. 

soobin turned to survey yeonjun. "it was him, wasn't it? you act different when wonwoo is brought up, or when he's around."

yeonjun avoided soobin's eyes but immediately held his arm close to his body, bringing up one of his hands to his mouth to nervously chew at his nails, which were all bitten down to their nail beds, all raw and red. this, soobin knew, was what he tended to do when he was scared.

changbin sighed, "if minho gets suspended again... they're gonna expel him."

soobin put an arm around yeonjun in an attempt at comfort, asking, "do you know if they're going to be punished? maybe they'll just get detention. you know the school doesn't like this stuff getting out."

"yeah, no kidding," felix stepped in. "i swear, if they let that wonwoo kid get away with this just because he's the freaking captain of their precious basketball team, i'm control + alt + deleting my existence."

"oh, that was a good one," changbin high-fived felix. 

yeonjun spit out the nail he'd managed the chew off. "what are we gonna do now?"

"i guess we just wait for the period to end? there's not much to do," felix shrugged. 

"hey, yeonjun-!" 

they turned to see beomgyu and taehyun rushing over, clad in their pe uniforms, and worried looks on their faces. 

"we saw there was like a big group here," beomgyu rushed out. 

taehyun continued, "and it seemed like there was shouting? we didn't see you guys until everyone left, and you seem all tense."

"it's nothing too bad," soobin shook his head. "we're okay. there was a fight, but we stayed out of it. some of our friends were involved though."

some whistles blew, telling them to go in and get changed back into their school uniforms. beomgyu and taehyun left them, and yeonjun waited with felix and changbin while soobin returned to grab yeonjun's things. 

the entire time he was in there, soobin noticed how everyone became hushed when he was near, and they kept staring. 

just as he was about to leave, jimin and namjoon appeared in their row of lockers. 

"what happened," namjoon hyung asked. "we heard something about a fight. where are kook and tae?" 

soobin made a face and started to speak, but jimin cut him off. "god, jungkook was the one that started the fight, wasn't he? damn it, he's always fighting; i swear, one day-"

"actually, someone else started it." soobin felt rude for interrupting but he knew jimin hyung could go on for hours if he was allowed to continue. so instead, soobin told both of them a summary of what happened, and watched their faces grow surprised with each detail. 

at the end, namjoon cursed. "i really hate this stupid ass school. bet wonwoo's gonna get away with it. especially if he didn't 'fight'."

they finally let soobin leave, and as he exited and looked around for yeonjun, finally spotting him by himself, leaning against a wall as he warily watched everyone. 

soobin felt his heart beat a funny rhythm when he noticed yeonjun relax as soon as he saw him. he had never seen that before. 

"let's get to health class," soobin tried for a cheerful tone. 

yeonjun made a face. "time to talk about more diseases. what a great thing to learn about after seeing our teammates fight."

"at least we're not learning about babies anymore," soobin scoffed. "i think that's the lowest score i've ever gotten on a presentation."

"same, and i did all the talking," yeonjun grumbled. 

* * *

"moreover, you all are aware that we tolerate no violence at this school," mr. lee was in the middle of announcing over the intercom. 

daehwi rolled his eyes at their group and made a motion as if he were throwing up. soobin and a few others laughed. 

at the sight of their group all crowded together at a small table, soobin couldn't stop grinning. everyone was sitting together and ignored the whispers and the stares from the rest of the people. 

they were instructed to stay outside of their dorms and in a place they would be able to hear the announcement from the principal, and soobin had been happy to see that all of their friends had decided without communicating, to meet in the cafeteria. 

"because we have noticed an increasing tendency for violence these days, believe me, we will be stricter with any type of this behavior. and, be aware, the second suspension is an expulsion."

"will he just shut up already," changbin sighed in irritation, "i'm trying to enjoy my mashed potatoes."

"could you like, scoot over a bit," lucas motioned to jaemin. 

jaemin shrugged. "at this rate i'm gonna end up in someone's lap."

"you know, he could at least tell us what's gonna happen to our friends," woojin frowned. "did y'all know, that just 'cause seungie has his face all swollen, they're thinking that he fought too? i swear, if he gets suspended just for getting hit in the face i'm gonna fight the school."

beomgyu, taehyun, and kai were silent and watching the entire group fire off comments here and there with wide eyes. they would, every once in awhile, look to yeonjun and soobin as if questioning how they fit in with this wild patchwork of a group.

"i'm still mad about that first suspension we got," jisung huffed, and this caused others to also shout their agreements.

"wait, shut up!" felix stood up at their table, his head poised to hear what mr. lee was saying. 

"the soccer players responsible for starting the recent incident will be dealt with as we see fit. therefore, i would like to meet with all those who have some suspicion with their involvement. the following students, please come up to the office; yeonjun choi, jisung han, woong jeon, donghyun kim, taehyung kim, woojin kim, daehwi lee, felix lee, mark lee, youngmin lim, woojin park, and lucas wong."

everyone had turned to look at their table, ogling them. soobin turned to see yeonjun's face become taut with fear and worry, especially since there was the risk that wonwoo would be in that office. 

"why did they say my name," daehwi snapped. "we've never gotten in trouble at this school. is it really just 'cause we got expelled from our last one?"

the red-haired woojin grunted, "probably. i swear, the prejudice here..."

lucas exclaimed, "i didn't do _shit_! i was _trying_ to stop jeno, but-!"

"why am i being called," felix asked aloud, as they all began to speak over each other.

soobin was the only one to wonder why he wasn't being called up to the office. he desperately felt the need to go up anyway; even if he couldn't do much to protect yeonjun in case anything happened, he still felt the urge to be there. 

yeonjun and the others started to get up, and soobin insisted, "i'm going with you."

"b-but.. they didn't say you should go up," yeonjun frowned.

soobin shook his head. "i don't have a good feeling about this. they only said the soccer players are being punished. nothing about basketball. and wonwoo might be in there still. i'm going up there with you."


	21. ₂₁ | he's not the first, not the last

"and what are you doing here," the secretary stared down- well, _up,_ at soobin with an annoyed expression on her face. 

soobin explained, "i'm here for the soccer incident."

"you're not on the list."

"i was called by mr. lee," soobin bluffed, looking at yeonjun while he talked. 

the blue dye in yeonjun's hair was fading to a gray color, but soobin didn't mind. yeonjun would probably complain about that and dye it back again, though, which made soobin pause. why hadn't yeonjun done that yet?

she snapped, "he told me just to check in those on the list."

"yo, _take a chill pill_ ," hyunjin snapped from the corner, where he and the rest of their "incarcerated" friends were sitting. "you've been rude all day. just let him stay, damn it."

"was some more inappropriate language i'm hearing," mr. lee suddenly stepped out from his office. 

hyunjin sighed and looked down at his feet. the secretary walked over to discuss something with the principal and they both looked at soobin. he nervously looked at the ground. 

_please, don't call my parents._

they wouldn't take something like this lightly, and he knew that, because yeonjun was here, they would automatically blame him for being a bad influence again. 

mr. lee nodded. "let him stay. i do remember they mentioned soobin at times." he then called out, "okay, who did i say was next? hyunjin hwang."

hyunjin stiffened in his seat and looked worriedly at the others as he stood up. 

"wait, what are you gonna do to him," a boy soobin had not seen before but somehow figured was jisung han, stepped forward to intervene. 

mr. lee shook his head. "it's just questioning. this is a big issue and i'd like to hear all facts of the story."

chris stood up in indignation. "i told you, that wonwoo kid has been bothering yeonjun-"

"that's enough," mr. lee snapped coldly. 

"yeah, why didn't he and his friends get 'questioned'? you just let them go," seungmin frowned angrily. "that's really unfair, especially when we've told you _he_ threw a basketb-"

"well, let's look at the situation," mr. lee explained crossly, "there was only wonwoo and two basketball team members involved, and look at how many there are of you. also, every single testimony has confirmed the fact that chris bahng was the first one to initiate the violence."

chris looked frustrated, like as if he wanted to speak, but sat back down and put his head in his hands. felix immediately crossed over to stand beside him, speaking in a low tone.

poor chris. the one time he had ever fought, and it had escalated into this.

woojin held up a hand. "to be fair, most of us that are here never fought at all."

"yeah," now daehwi spoke up. "there are a lot of us that could be used as exemplary students, and you called us up here for what? to make it seem like as if we're some gang picking on _poor wonwoo and his friends_? do you have any idea-"

mr. lee silenced them. "i said i wanted to speak to each of you privately. get up, hyunjin," he ordered. 

"hey, he's not a dog-"

"that's enough! the next person who speaks out of turn will be getting expelled immediately for insubordination and inappropriate use of language."

this made them all shut up now, and they watched hyunjin slowly shuffle into the principal's office. 

yeonjun whispered, "i'm scared. he's really scary."

"it's gonna be okay," soobin insisted. "just tell the truth. i think your story matters the most here. and, yeonjun?" the elder looked up when soobin said his name. "tell him what that motherfucker did to you on friday."

yeonjun widened his eyes at soobin's choice of words but seemed to slowly nod, pulling his right arm up to his chest again. he pushed the sleeve back and glanced at the letters that had now become itchy scabs.

* * *

yeonjun sat down on the hard, wooden chair, staring at mr. lee across his desk. in the room was also the rude secretary, whom yeonjun remembered was named mrs. young, and the elusive vice principal of the school, a grim-faced woman who introduced herself as vice principal choi. 

he felt himself nervously swallow the lump down in his throat and couldn't help but feel like he was in trouble. but, that was silly, right? why would yeonjun be in trouble when he had never caused the violence? 

at least, not purposefully. he didn't understand why exactly wonwoo seemed to have it out for him. 

mr. lee sighed. "yeonjun, please recall that we are trying to figure out the cause for the _recent_ events. no matter how much you might want to bring up a troubled past, we are trying to stay on the path of relevancy."

yeonjun nodded slowly and wondered if what had happened on friday was "recent events". 

"are you friends with chris bahng?"

"i have never really talked with him before, but i have classes with him, and he's also a teammate from soccer... we do have some friends in common though, i guess," yeonjun answered truthfully. 

mrs. young obediently typed while mr. lee continued, "and has he ever exhibited signs of a violent tendency?"

yeonjun disagreed. "in class he's always breaking up arguments, and he has so many friends."

mr. lee seemed displeased with this answer. "then, please explain why mr. bahng lashed out at jinhyuk today."

"he probably deserved it," yeonjun shrugged. "i wasn't close enough to hear. soobin and i were getting mr. byun to break things up."

"you called mr. byun over before the fight started," mr. lee leaned back in his chair. "could this perhaps be because you figured chris would lash out?"

"no," yeonjun insisted, "it was because wonwoo threw the basketball at me, but he missed - ain't he the captain of the basketball team? wow, says a lot - and hit seungmin instead."

"we're not talking about what happened to seungmin," mr. lee cut him off. "focus on the conversation here, mr. choi. you've been very compliant until this point; don't make me void your testimony."

yeonjun bit back the insults he wanted to hurl out. how was what happened to seungmin not relevant here?! it was literally what had made hyunjin burst up and caused all their friends to rush at wonwoo, to defend them. 

mr. lee questioned, "now, did you ever see wonwoo express violence at anyone after chris bahng had taken the first swing?"

"well, no, not _after_ , but he hit seung-"

"great, of course, he did not hit anyone during the fight," mr. lee nodded. 

yeonjun snapped, "but he started this."

mr. lee raised an eyebrow. "how, exactly, mr. choi, did wonwoo park start the fight, if chris bahng took the first swing, and, might i add, gave jinhyuk a concussion?"  
  
"oh god, did you even let seungmin get checked by the nurse?" yeonjun suddenly became worried over seungmin's condition. "did you 'question' him even though he could have had a concussion too? you know, he took a hit to the head with a _basketball_!"

"what does seungmin's injury have in relevance to this issue," mr. lee asked, never once appearing to lose that deadly cold calm that he oozed in waves. 

yeonjun tried to copy it. "wonwoo meant to hit _me_. i'm sure the other's have told you. he's been talking about me at school, and this isn't the first time he's hurt me." his voice began to quake with emotion, and yeonjun pushed back his sleeve, raising his arm. 

mr. lee's eyes widened, and yeonjun heard ms. choi gasp audibly. 

"he did this to me," yeonjun held back the tears. "his friends held me down and he cut this into my arm with shards of glass. he was _drunk_. he tried to hit me with a basketball today, but he hit seungmin instead. and you aren't holding him responsible for _anything_."

mr. lee barked out, "mrs. young, override the notes for what yeonjun just said. it's obvious he's still in shock from the recent events. his version of the events is not reliable."

mrs. young looked to yeonjun with sadness in her eyes but did not protest, holding down the backspace button on her laptop, where she was typing the notes. 

yeonjun snapped, "i can't believe you. you're protecting someone like wonwoo, and for what? just 'cause he's the captain of a basketball team? this place is _rotting_ with corruption." 

with that, he got up, deaf to the sounds of mr. lee telling him to sit back down, as his interview was not finished. yeonjun didn't care. 

he opened the door to the office and stopped dead in his tracks. 

wonwoo stood at the entrance to the waiting lobby, an angry look on his face. 

"what the hell did you tell them," he roared, stepping forward. 

jungkook sprang up. "hey wonwoo; want another punch to your arm, or is it still hurting from earlier when i hit you?"

wonwoo grimaced. "yeonjun choi. you bitchass. you'd better pray for your life if anything gets out about last week."

soobin stepped forward. "i bet you feel so cool, threatening yeonjunnie like that when you know how scared he is after you, like a coward, hurt him last time. you're a real cool dude," he said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. 

"what about you? you get a boyfriend and suddenly you're mr. i'm-so-much-better-than-everyone-just-'cause-i-like-it-up-the-ass."

"you know what? at this point i'm getting expelled anyway so why not make it for a good reason," chris pushed himself up from his seat. "let me give you the beating your parents should have a long time ago."

and, of course, this was when mr. lee decided to step out of his office, and chuckled humorlessly, "ah, chris bahng, are we really going back to fighting again? especially when you're at quite the risk for being expelled?"

"oh my god, this headass really ain't listening," woojin park grumbled, but at this point, they had lost their will to insist on the truth to a person who wasn't going to accept it.

mr. lee turned to survey wonwoo. "mr. park, what seems to be the problem?"

"i just wanted to ask for updates on jinhyuk's condition," wonwoo shrugged.

"what a lying ass mo-"

"jinhyuk is currently being transported to the hospital for emergency services. he had a concussion from the hit," mr. lee gazed at chris accusingly. 

chris asked with pain in his voice, "oh my god, is he okay? i'm so sorry..."

this struck mr. lee with surprise, but instead of letting it linger, he called out, "daehwi lee. you're next." he turned to go back into his office. 

daehwi turned so his back was to mr. lee's office and walked backwards, calling out, "hey, basketball captain-" as wonwoo looked up, daehwi held up both of his middle fingers in the air and grinned in victory as he turned to enter mr. lee's office. 

the door to the waiting room slammed shut after wonwoo left, and soobin asked yeonjun, "what happened? you literally ran out; we could hear him yelling at you to stay. did you tell him about what happened last week?"

yeonjun nodded, "i did, but it's apparently made my testimony void because i'm 'still in shock'."

"that's bullshit," soobin cussed, and angry look on his face. "we're literally giving him all the evidence against wonwoo and he's still trying to blame us? and why don't those ladies in there say anything?" 

mrs. young stepped out this time and explained that they would all have to wait in detention while the principal questioned the last few and decided on an adequate punishment. 

inside detention, they all sat in the back and quietly fumed until minho broke the silence. 

"if i get expelled, it was nice knowing y'all," he tried for a smile. 

"oh god, minho, don't say that," chris shook his head. "but if you get expelled, i'm definitely being expelled."

"if they expel you guys, i'm unenrolling," seungmin called out, sitting back as he crossed his arms across his chest. 

mark nodded, "honestly, yo. we should all just _unenroll_. this school was never that good anyway. or, you know what? let's unenroll anyway. i don't like school periodt."

"let's unenroll life-"

soobin was worried. at this point, it seemed like the principal was going to call their parents. 

then, he felt angry. why were they being punished when they hadn't even participated? and yes, wonwoo and his friends weren't being punished at all...

a knock sounded at the door. mr. kang walked in with a wry smile. "when some of my best students didn't show up for the after-school meeting, i found out they were holding you guys here. thank goodness, i'm in charge of this shift for detention."

"mr. kang! they're blaming us for this fight when we didn't even do anything," jaemin stood up. 

the teacher did a double take when he saw soobin and yeonjun sitting together. "why are they holding you two?"

"right?" chris exclaimed, "okay, yes, minho, hyunjin, jeno, jungkook, and i did fight, but yeonjun and soobin were far away at all times. they were even the ones to call mr. byun to break things up."

"and that wonwoo kid, he won't leave yeonjun alone," jeno frowned.

mr. kang held his hands in the air. "guys, i get it. you're really frustrated. but the principal, he just wants to make sure he's got all the facts, right? i'm sure you guys aren't going to be punished without reason."

"are you kidding me? we totally are being punished without reason," woojin kim fumed. 

yeonjun nodded, "mr. kang, they aren't even questioning wonwoo and his friends."

seungmin pointed at his swollen cheek. "i got hit in the face and i'm being punished for that."

"okay, it may seem unfair right now," mr. kang tried to calm everyone down, "but maybe they'll question wonwoo later. you know, maybe it's happening right now and they're just trying to avoid another fight breaking out. there's no need to call for a mutiny." he smiled a little wider at the end. 

mark called out, "well if he expels us, he better _throwback, I might throw this on an eight track._ " 

"yes, mark! go off," lucas waved his hands in the air.

"oh no, stop, that kills the vibe," mark made the 'cut it out' motion with his hands. 

"why don't you guys just work on some homework for now," mr. kang suggested. 

felix pointed out, "if we're being expelled, that homework's not gonna matter."

mr. kang insisted, "guys, i'm telling you, the school doesn't unreasonably expel people. if they did, they would be under scrutiny and forced to change their rules that dictate an expulsion. besides, it's just a harmless little fight. the most you will probably get is a few detentions."

"but.. your fifth detention becomes an automatic suspension," hyunjin suddenly spoke up.

soobin felt himself tense up. 

yeonjun pleaded, "please don't tell me you're close to five."

"i've had four," soobin admitted sheepishly. 

"well if you weren't in the fight, i doubt you'll be punished; as long as you've relatively kept your nose clean from any fights or bullying, you won't get detention or anything," mr. kang sighed. 

"what about those of us that fought," jungkook asked, his eyebrows crinkled with worry. "i have a potential scholarship in the works... would a suspension affect it?"

mr. kang answered hesitantly, "it might... if you get suspended or expelled. hopefully not, though. you're a good kid, mostly." he grinned jokingly. 

the rest of their time there was spent without much happening, and after the two hours of detention were over, mr. kang insisted they couldn't be held any longer, so they were free to go. 

as they walked out, soobin motioned, "look, they're selling pizza!"

"it's probably all cold now," yeonjun shook his head. "it's been two hours since school ended."

"but remember, we had that announcement after school? they probably just started selling," soobin frowned. "please, can we get some?"

yeonjun answered, "you can; i'm gonna go back to the dorm."

soobin was silent for a few seconds, and then he changed his direction to walk to the dorms. 

"hey, where are you going," yeonjun rushed to catch up to him. 

soobin continued walking along, not bothering to turn around or speak.

to check if soobin was mad, yeonjun quickly slipped his hand into his, looking up into his eyes. 

while he didn't let go, soobin also didn't meet yeonjun's gaze. 

yeonjun pouted and looked down while they walked. he felt like soobin was upset and it was his fault. 

before he could really ask about it though, soobin slowed down as they heard the door to taehyun and beomgyu's dorm slowly close. 

"kai?"

the said boy looked up, a hesitant gaze in his eyes. "hi... hyungs."

yeonjun immediately let go of soobin's hand and laced his arms around kai. he frowned deeply upon realizing how much taller kai was now, but still comforted him. "kai, what's wrong? you look so sad..."

"i'm not sad," kai insisted, which prompted soobin to also hug him, though one of his hands was placed on yeonjun's shoulder. kai groaned. "you guys are smothering me!"

"tell us what's wrong," soobin threatened, "or else."

"there ain't nothing wrong," kai argued. "but, hey, did you guys hear the good news? beomgyu and taehyun are dating."


	22. ₂₂ | i love you

yeonjun whispered, "what? don't look at me like that."

"what are we gonna do now," soobin also whispered. 

kai was sound asleep between them. after a grueling half-hour conversation in which yeonjun and soobin had interrogated him about how he felt, kai announced he was sleepy and promptly fell asleep. 

yeonjun questioned, "what do you mean what are we gonna do? let him sleep!"

"but... in our room?"

"oh my god. soobin are you pouting?!"  
  
soobin didn't stop, though a smile started to fight its way onto his face. "no. maybe."

yeonjun gasped. "i want to take a picture of you right now-"

"no!"

with soobin's sudden shout, kai jolted awake, opening his eyes. 

"oh no kai, i'm sorry," soobin apologized. 

kai yawned. "oh, i'm fine. you're okay... i'm gonna go now." he sat up and stretched. "oh, wait." he turned around to grin at them slyly. "you guys are just as cute together as i thought you'd be."

"wait what-!" yeonjun jumped up, starting to rush kai, who quickly sprinted out of their room. upon this, he immediately turned to soobin, who dug himself a hiding spot under the blankets. "how does he know?! what does he mean?!"

soobin said meekly from under the blankets, "according to the soccer team, we aren't that good at hiding." 

he let out a loud oof as yeonjun jumped onto him, pawing at the blanket until he uncovered soobin. "do you understand what that means?"

soobin's smile slowly dropped from his face. "no..?"

yeonjun tapped his fingers together. "can you hold my hand in the hallways now?"

"i'll do whatever you want in the hallways," soobin said without much thought. "as long as you don't get bullied for it."

yeonjun was silent, pensive for a few seconds. a huge smile spread through his face. "oh, anything?"

"i really don't like that evil look on your face," soobin said truthfully.

* * *

"take off the hat," yeonjun tugged at the one on soobin's head. 

soobin was flushed. "i'm so embarrassed."

"don't be; it's cute," yeonjun insisted. 

taehyun and beomgyu stood beside them, eyes wide with curiosity. they were standing beside the entrance to the school's cafeteria. 

"fine," soobin huffed, then yanked off his hat, revealing knots of ribbon tied into his hair. 

( when i saw this i died 🥺)  
[ also sjkdj yes i know what soobin was wearing were actually ears but they're gonna be ribbons here ]

beomgyu just about died with cackles, dropping down to the ground. 

taehyun raised his eyebrows. "holy shit, i... i have no words."

"it's cute," yeonjun cooed, ruffling soobin's hair. 

soobin covered his face and whispered, "oh god, stop.... everyone's staring-"

"no one's staring," yeonjun insisted. 

"yoooooh my fucking-" mark stopped mid-greeting beside them. "wha- are you guys seeing this right now?"

soobin covered his head and looked absolutely mortified. 

beomgyu straightened up and exclaimed, "kai has to see this! i'm gonna go get him!"

"no, no, no!" soobin pushed through their group and continued down the hallway, thoroughly embarrassed. 

mark started to argue, "wait i need to tell-"

yeonjun ran after him, ignoring the looks everyone sent him and the way the crowd parted to avoid him. 

"wait, soobin!" yeonjun cursed at how fast soobin could run when he really wanted to. he followed soobin down the hall and around the corner, pretending to be deaf when a teacher called out for them to stop running. 

he finally caught up to him in the school's courtyard, where he grabbed onto soobin and smacked him once. 

"don't do that again," yeonjun yelled breathlessly. 

he held onto soobin's arm and caught his breath, all the while soobin sheepishly shrugged at everyone's stares. 

"oh god, the gays are back at it again," someone sighed from the passerby.

"i'm gonna throw up. watch them start wearing skirts in the hallway."

soobin tugged slightly at the ribbons in his hair and contemplated many courses of action, murder being one of them. 

but instead, he held up his head and grabbed yeonjun's hand tightly, making up his mind that he wouldn't be scared anymore. 

he turned to make eye contact with yeonjun, who had wide eyes, and felt his heart beat quickly with emotion. the words just came to his lips and he started to confess, "yeonjun, i-"

but the bell chime interrupted his words. 

"wait, soobin, what were you gonna say," yeonjun questioned, furrowing his eyebrows. 

"nothing, nothing, we're gonna be late," soobin waved the question away. "we should get going!"

* * *

at this point yeonjun was used to the stares and whispers. he figured they weren't as bad as the pushing or shoving. or... wonwoo's form of torment. 

thankfully, yeonjun didn't have a single class with the basketball captain, and he didn't see him in the hallways. 

even if there was a chance of seeing him, yeonjun was usually accompanied by a friend or two, sometimes lucas and changbin, other times hyunjin, seungmin, and mark, and even daehwi and his friends. and, of course, soobin was always there. 

yeonjun exited his japanese language class, surprised to see soobin standing there, still wearing the ribbons in his hair. 

"how did you get here so fast," yeonjun was puzzled. "the whole reason you used to be late to lunch was because they sell bread so far from your art class."

soobin grinned. "i'm full of surprises."

yeonjun automatically held soobin's hand and they started walking down to hall to join their friends. 

"if you want, soobin..." yeonjun seemed to try and convince himself, "we can sit with daehwi and your other friends."

this made soobin smile widely and start speaking in an excited tone. "i just realized i haven't even properly introduced you to them! oh god i'm so excited, they're gonna love you!"

"what the hell is with your hair," woojin frowned at soobin. 

soobin shuffled nervously. "yeonjunie asked me to wear this. speaking of which, guys, this is yeonjun, my boyfriend."

"look at that formal ass intro," donghyun laughed, and woong chided him.

daehwi raised his eyebrows. "well it's about damn time. hi, yeonjun, i have health with y'all and i just walked with you to class, but i'm daehwi lee; i was born in the year of the snake-"

"oh my god, shut up," youngmin smacked daehwi, who fell back and laughed hard. 

yeonjun was smiling. he could see why soobin spent so much time with this group. 

the others also introduced themselves, and soobin joined them all in applauding the fact that youngmin actually introduced himself, causing the elder to snap at them in jest and frown.

they spent the rest of lunch period in a fit of giggles, most of the time either making fun of soobin's hair or retelling embarrassing stories about each other. 

when it was time to go to their next period, which would be a free one anyway, soobin grabbed yeonjun's arm and lead him back inside the school building.

"wait, but we have soccer," yeonjun started to argue.

soobin shook his head. "after what happened with our friends and wonwoo, i don't want to go back if we're not actually practicing."

so instead, they traced their steps back to a familiar place, one they hadn't visited since yeonjun had started to receive the backlash for what he did at the dance. 

yeonjun felt his face flush as soobin opened the door to their infamous janitor's closet. 

he could swear he felt his heartbeat in his fingertips as the door closed behind him, enclosing them in pitch blackness. 

but he didn't expect soobin to just go and hug him like that. 

soobin sighed, "is it just me or does it feel like we have a lot of friends now? we see them everywhere... it's a little tiring for me sometimes."

yeonjun mentally slapped himself for feeling disappointed. what was there to be disappointed about?

"why are you so quiet," soobin asked suddenly. 

"what? me," yeonjun questioned, "i'm not quiet."

"yes you are," soobin insisted. "what is it?"

yeonjun shook his head, looking quite embarrassed.

soobin inclined his head to the side, stepping closer, a knowing smile on his face. "what is it, junie? use your words."

yeonjun looked down at his hands, kneading his fingers nervously together as he avoided soobin's gaze. he shook his head slightly, in disbelief of what he was about to do. 

some words are better communicated through the silent, wordless communication of the body. 

but as yeonjun battled with his inner shyness, soobin beat him to it. 

placing a gentle hand under yeonjun's chin, soobin forced him to look into his eyes. and, after what seemed like an eternity, their lips danced together in harmony. 

in the darkness of a small, enclosed space, their hearts hammered out a symphony that conveyed their love, love that was not accepted or tolerated. 

but, for the moment, all that mattered was that they had each other.

though the closet was such a tiny place, it could have been never-ending and they still would have chosen to press together, a barrier of skin the only thing holding them back from becoming one. 

somewhere in the blind search for each other, yeonjun had found the added layer of his shirt and jacket uniform were... unnecessary. 

or, was it soobin? either way, it really seemed like they would go farther than ever this time. 

and the sudden uncertainty of the moment scared them both. 

they finally paused, faces flushed with embarrassment and shyness, as the moment of clarity caused them to hesitate. 

reminded by the sight of his own bare skin, yeonjun joked, "you still owe me a hoodie."

soobin's face twisted with many emotions. finally, he decided to continue the dark joke. "technically, _you_ owe me one."

he tenderly examined yeonjun's arm, lightly tracing the fading scars. his expression turned sad and serious, which did not match the pink ribbons dangling from the dark curls of his hair.

but for yeonjun, the edges of this memory would always be bright and tinged with happiness. he didn't want it to be ruined.

so he looked up at soobin with a happy, serene smile. after everything that had happened, he couldn't imagine being happier or better off with anyone else.   
  
"soobin, i love you."

at this surprising confession, soobin found himself stuttering and flushed with nervousness. it had been completely unnerving, the way yeonjun had said that with conviction, so completely sure of what he felt, while meanwhile soobin was a jumbly, stuttering mess. 

before soobin could exactly form the words, yeonjun pointed at the door. "what's that?"

he pushed past soobin and peeled a pink envelope that was taped to the door. soobin helpfully clicked on the light and was alarmed to find "june" written in cursive letters on the top flap.

"don't open that," soobin commanded, his hand covering up the name. 

"why not?" yeonjun yanked the envelope out of soobin's reach, behind his back. "it says 'june' on it."  
  
"maybe they mean the month," soobin joked. he then explained, "no, yeonjunie. this gives me a bad feeling. how would someone know we come in here? why would they put the note there? what are they gonna say in a note that they can't say to your face? remember, everyone knows-"  
  
"i think you're overreacting; besides, what are words gonna do to hurt me? stop babying me," yeonjun frowned. 

soobin insisted. yeonjun argued. 

in the middle of their discussion, the door swung open violently, and a older man stood there, a name badge depicting him to be mr. yun of the math department.

"the janitor closets are forbidden to students," he informed them coldly. "skipping classes, are we?" his lip curled to make a grimace at yeonjun's state. 

yeonjun quickly slid his uniform shirt on, hands shaking with fear. the humiliation burned bright in his chest, and he worried for soobin's state of mind. he then stuffed the envelope into his pocket, forgetting about it almost immediately. 

"choi soobin and choi yeonjun," he read their badges aloud. "what class are you supposed to be in right now?"

soobin tried to swallow down the blatant terror squeezing his chest. he promised he wouldn't be so scared anymore. "we have a free period," he calmly replied. 

mr. yun narrowed his eyes. "i don't even want to know what was going on in here. school is no such place for such ungodly things to happen. follow me to the office."

they obediently listened to him, walking along dejectedly. 

yeonjun tried holding soobin's hand for comfort, but for some reason, soobin's hand slipped out of his hold. 

at least, that was what he was going to tell himself. 

for the second time in the span of 24 hours, they were being dragged back to the front office, no doubt, to face mr. lee.

once they entered, the secretary widened her eyes at them. 

mr. yun said in a clipped tone, "i found these two in a janitor's closet during class time. may i speak to vice principal choi?"

ms. young nodded and led mr. yun to where he could speak with her. 

yeonjun took the moment to turn to soobin and share his thoughts. "see, soobinnie? don't worry; he's talking to the lady, not mr. lee. i think we'll be okay!" he was rambling now. "i doubt she'll get us in much trouble; maybe she'll let us off with a warning?-"

"shh," soobin interrupted yeonjun's panicked speech and leaned closer.

"whatever happens, i love you too, junie."

and then, for a second surprise of the day, while on school property, soobin kissed yeonjun.


	23. ₂₃ | a red face and a note

"just because it was a free period, i'm letting you off with a warning," vice principal choi chided them. "now, please don't do it again."

yeonjun almost felt like snapping, 'don't do what again', but he knew that would only worsen things for them. 

"oh my good lord i feel like crying," soobin sighed as they left the office. "i was so worried."

before yeonjun could comment, the secretary stopped them. "you two... you're supposed to be with mr. lee and the others. someone was supposed to call you up."  
  
soobin felt his skin crawl. he asked, "where are they?"

"in the detention hall," she informed them. "i'm... sorry."

as they walked away, yeonjun grumbled, "why should she be sorry? and, what the hell, we better not get in trouble for not showing up for detention; no one called us up."  
  
soobin looked queasy. "do you really think we'll get detention?"

yeonjun immediately switched his words, "i mean, no i don't think we'll get detention. we weren't even a part of the fight, you know?"  
  
but, they were not so lucky.

mr. lee frowned upon their arrival. "soobin choi. yeonjun choi. thank you for gracing us with your presence."

they were stunned to find wonwoo sitting at a desk in the back corner of the room, snickering with the two boys who had been a part of the fight. one of them had a black eye, and the other a bandaged head. 

"isn't the vice principal supposed to be in charge of detentions," yeonjun questioned, noticing the way hyunjin and seungmin were making "cut it out" motions only until he had finished his sentence. 

mr. lee smoldered. "i'll be handling this one. everyone here has served their first day of punishment. you two, however, will be held responsible for trying to avoid it." 

he picked up a clipboard and flipped through a few pages. yeonjun and soobin started to move to sit down. a cackle cut off their progress. 

"looks like one of you is at their fifth detention," he hummed gleefully. "soobin, are you aware of the consequences? that constitutes a suspension."

soobin then brought it upon himself to speak. "with all due respect sir, why are yeonjun and i being punished? we were the ones that called the teacher over. we never participated in anything."  
  
mr. lee glowered. "did you really think you could keep it a secret?"

soobin looked to yeonjun in panic. was he talking about...?

mr. lee walked over to the phone in a corner of the room with heavy, stomping steps. "i'll be calling your parents, soobin. they must be notified of your suspension _immediately_."

yeonjun heard mr. lee use the phone. he listened while he left a message for soobin's parents. he saw mr. lee hang up the phone. 

he witnessed it all but couldn't believe it. 

while mr. lee was on the phone, seungmin and hyunjin glumly explained that minho and chris had been expelled. jungkook had just been picked up a few minutes ago by his parents; he and jeno were suspended, too.

but, through it all, yeonjun could see how soobin seemed numb to his surroundings. he sat in the chair and stared blankly at the floor, his face void of emotion. 

yeonjun knew this was soobin's worst nightmare. he didn't want this to happen. but he was helpless to stop it. 

so, yeonjun watched as the security guards arrived for soobin and were told to take him out to the office and wait for his parents to show up. 

and through it all, soobin never protested, never said a word, never looked at anyone. 

though yeonjun tried calling out to him, he never once seemed to acknowledge it. 

this was the soobin his parents knew, the one that never felt anything, the one that wasn't harmed by their words, because he couldn't hear them. 

mr. lee said they could only stay until two hours after the last bell had rung, which was when detention normally ended. 

it was then that yeonjun could try to find soobin, or reach him. hopefully it wouldn't be too late. 

but until then, he had a big problem to deal with, by the name of wonwoo park. 

all throughout the time, yeonjun sat in his chair, staring forward, but he could see from his peripheral vision that wonwoo's gaze never moved from yeonjun's face. it completely unnerved him. 

for the entire four hours they spent in there, yeonjun never relaxed. 

every time wonwoo spoke or made a sound, yeonjun involuntarily clenched his fists tighter, getting angrier and more impatient by the second.

as soon as the bell rang, yeonjun bolted up from his chair and ran out of the room, never once stopping to catch his breath or to take in his surroundings other than to mentally map out where the office was. 

for once in his entire life, he believed, yeonjun did not complain about the exercise. he let his emotions carry him, give him the strength to reach the office. 

he burst in through the doors, red-faced, gasping for air. 

through his deep, quick breaths, yeonjun managed to ask, "where's soobin?"

vice principal choi was standing in front of him, an apologetic look on her face. "i just finished talking to his parents about the details of his suspension. they took him home."

yeonjun stepped out of the office, letting the door close behind him with a slam. he quickly tapped out soobin's number on his phone and felt dejected. the call rang once and then went to voicemail.

"did she tell them everything?" yeonjun was thinking out loud. 

again, yeonjun was frustrated with his lack of ability to do anything. it was hard to admit defeat. 

as he tried to put his phone back, the crumbled pink envelope fell from his pocket.

oh, right. the note. 

he remembered the day he'd spent with soobin, how just a few hours ago they were having such a great day. yeonjun's heart twisted with grief. he really hoped soobin would be okay. 

as for meanwhile, the note was quite puzzling. 

"dear june,   
  
honestly, looking back at things now, i realize that maybe we were a little harsh with our words back during december's dance...."

yeonjun didn't really read the rest. it was long and wordy. what he could catch from skimming the letter was that it was apparently apologizing for the girls' behavior towards him. then it said that they hoped he would find it because everyone knew about the janitor's closet? that was... weird.

at the end, she invited him to a hangout for the girls on thursday at some café between "our school and the boys'". yeonjun was stunned. didn't everyone know who june really was?

at the very least he figured he might as well not ignore their offer, because they'd be waiting on him to accept it. yeonjun thought that he might as well clear the air. 

he wondered what soobin might have told him to do. or, he could have just asked soobin to tag along. then again, soobin didn't like hanging out with people he didn't know, so he might have just told yeonjun not to go. 

yeonjun's heart panged with loneliness. 

he walked back to the dorms, keeping the note in his hand. that day was wednesday, and the note detailed the time to be later after school. he wondered how he'd even get out of the school. how could the girls leave theirs? they must not have as strict rules as we do, yeonjun thought. 

yeonjun passed by beomgyu and taehyun's room without stopping, not really in a mood to interact with the hyper trio just then. 

as he struggled to find sleep, yeonjun tossed and turned in soobin's bed in their room, trying unsuccessfully to relax. somehow the fact that soobin hadn't answered gave him a terrible feeling. 

the next day, detention passed in a blur, with yeonjun chewing through the rest of the nails he'd had, which hadn't been much to begin with anyway.

this time yeonjun didn't notice wonwoo at all, didn't care if he was there or not. (which, he wasn't.)

but, after detention had finished, yeonjun decided to hurry and change out of his uniform for a better chance at sneaking out, trying to ignore how exhausted he felt after a night of no sleep.

after leaving his dorm, he bumped into a boy who he recognized as minho's roommate, mostly because the boy was wearing a shirt that said "justice for minho" and kept shouting this phrase while he walked. 

"hey, you're minho's roommate, jisung, right?" yeonjun stopped the boy while he was in the middle of a shout. 

jisung paused the chanting and nodded. "yeah, i am. why?"

"you and minho had a party the other day-"

"oh god, that idiot was the one that asked everyone over," jisung snapped. "i just okay'd it; he was the party freak. i'm not gonna be hosting any without him here."  
  
"no, i just wanted to ask if you knew how to like, sneak out and stuff?" yeonjun frowned. soobin's nervous habits must be rubbing off on him. "i've never really done it on my own before."  
  
"oh." jisung looked around and pulled yeonjun down the hall and into a dorm, which yeonjun presumed was his. "it's actually pretty easy. you just get someone to distract some of the security guards and go. usually you don't have to worry about them because the basketball kids are always doing it for each other."

yeonjun continued, "right, but there's so much more security now because of all the fights and stuff." he mentally slapped himself. "and stuff"? really?

jisung hummed to himself. "right. this sounds like a job for... stray kids!"

yeonjun paused. "your group... has a... name?"  
  
"we're working on it," jisung huffed, and he set about to texting his friends. 

"you know what, i really don't think all that is necessary," yeonjun began, "i'm just gonna go-"  
  
"no! they're already here," jisung grinned. 

sure enough, hyunjin opened the door mid-argument. "for the last time, 'league of gays' is not a good name!"  
  
"okay, i'll drop it if you can tell me why," felix followed dutifully behind.   
  
"well, not all of us are-"  
  
"where's everyone else," jisung interjected. 

hyunjin snapped, "on their way. anyway, why can't we just stick with 'aussie mates'? that was a good one."

"well we're not ' _straight kids_ ' are we," felix pointed out.

sure enough, while they continued their intense argument, seungmin, jeongin, woojin, and changbin entered at different times.

and yeonjun felt embarrassed. so many people just for a stupid note? 

"really?" jeongin pointed at jisung's shirt. "i could hear you shouting from my room, _and_ i was wearing headphones."

"minho was wrongly expelled," jisung huffed. 

hyunjin apparently had finished his argument with felix and still had some pent-up arguing. "we did cause a fight to break out."  
  
"in the defense of the oppressed," felix burst out. "you see?! we're like the justice league for gays. if we could just-"  
  
"we're not the league of gays," hyunjin interjected.

"technically, we were _just_ called to assemble," jeongin admitted, "and we are, in a way, providing justice-"  
  
woojin stepped in. "okay, just curious, why is yeonjun here?" he turned to look at yeonjun. "did someone threaten you again?"  
  
"we were gonna walk with you but you like, ran for your life out of the room," seungmin grumbled. "we figured you didn't want anyone to tag along."  
  
"i just wanted to see if i could catch soobin before his parents picked him up," yeonjun explained in a quiet tone. "anyway, i just want to sneak out of the school for something."  
  
"yeah, to see him, right?" jisung looked expectantly to yeonjun. 

yeonjun hadn't thought of that, but that made sense. he could use the span of time to see soobin, too. "y-yeah," he answered, and screwed his lips up tight as he felt the nervous sweats begin. 

could he maybe, just for once, be good at lying?

hyunjin held a hand on his chest. "this is so cute; i need a boyfriend immediately," he suddenly pointed, "seungmin-!"

seungmin widened his eyes and looked around to the others for help. 

at this hyunjin grumbled, "just kidding, geez..."

changbin awkwardly changed the subject. "so... did you really need all of us, dude?! there's seven people here just for a freakin' mission to sneak one person out, smh." he crossed his arms after yelling at jisung. 

felix, who sat beside him, grinned and argued, "he called us to assemble-"  
  
"not again," changbin interrupted. "why does our group even have a name? that makes us seem like we're like a geek squad."

"speak for yourself," jeongin huffed as he flipped through a stack of yugioh cards. "if i had a penny for every time i wasn't cool, i'd have _no pennies_."

jisung shook his head. "who's volunteering to help? we need a few to distract the guards and go with yeonjun as an escort or something."

they looked to hyunjin. 

hyunjin snapped, "what?!" at their stares. 

"you're taking those acting classes," jisung pointed out. 

woojin explained, "you do constantly brag about your skills-"  
  
"wow, stalkers," hyunjin rolled his eyes but stood up, stretching his limbs, and apparently this was taken as his acceptance of the role. 

felix held up a hand. "i'll go with hyunjin-"  
  
"i'll go too," changbin jumped in, "to supervise."  
  
"uh-huh," jisung said in a teasing tone, which caused felix to avert his blushing face. 

"i'll go with you, yeonjun," jisung stood up.

"great," jeongin nodded and said absentmindedly, "now will a grown up person go with them?"

jisung gasped. "i _am_ grown up! height doesn't mean anything!"  
  
woojin shrugged. "i can go too, if you'd like."

yeonjun realized they were looking to him for approval. with everyone's gazes on him, yeonjun felt shy and laughed nervously, insisting that whatever they wanted was okay with him. 

it was decided that woojin would stay behind to more or less look things over and try to be their inside eyes. he felt uncomfortable with the responsibility but seemed to accept it. 

jeongin also tagged along with jisung because he wanted to buy some food, knowing jisung would do so and not bring any back for anyone else. 

they hid behind a conveniently-shaped fake plant in the hallway, watching hyunjin, felix, and changbin cook up a plan for their phase. 

yeonjun had no idea what to expect but he certainly didn't think hyunjin would suddenly burst out into song, sprinting down the hallway while felix followed, both of them belting out "into the unknown" from the top of their lungs. 

changbin cursed colorfully and followed after them, starting to yell something about an intruder. 

two guards spoke into their headpieces and ran after them. well, it certainly had caught their attention.

yeonjun and his two new "escorts"? hurried down the rest of the hallway, hoping fervently that the guards had all followed the screaming trio to find out the problem. 

but, as they walked, jisung surprisingly paused. "wait. what's that?"  
  
they perked up and listened to something in the distance slowly get louder as it got closer. 

"hide," jeongin quickly exclaimed, and they opened up another janitor's closet to hide inside. 

they left the door open a crack, and saw hyunjin zoom past them, wailing, "iiiiiiii'm getting expelledddd!!"

a crowd of security personnel raced after him. 

jisung looked to make sure the coast was clear and sighed, "that idiot. he really is going to get in trouble for screaming like that and running away from the guards."

"where are lix and changbin," jeongin mused aloud. 

jisung made a face. "ugh, do you really want to know? just be glad we didn't find them in _here_."

yeonjun awkwardly shuffled in place, trying not to think too hard about the mystery. 

they decided to hurry and leave the school grounds together, but once outside the gates, yeonjun requested for them to let him go alone.

jisung grinned, raising his eyebrows. "of course. just let us know if you're even going to come back to campus."

jeongin rolled his eyes. yeonjun flushed and shyly thanked them for their help before turning away and continuing to walk down the street alone, deciding to meet up with the girls before visiting soobin. that way, he could give soobin more time to respond or explain. 

he didn't notice the shadow drifting along behind him, watching his progress.


	24. ₂₄ | pretty

yeonjun arrived at the little shop where his presence had been demanded. 

he looked around and noticed the group of girls in a corner, talking together. they intimidated him, though all they were doing was talking and laughing. 

at the last second, yeonjun chickened out and instead sat down across the room from them, at a small table meant for two. 

he checked his phone once again, eyes searching hungrily for any kind of sign that soobin had seen the missed calls or offered a chance to explain what happened.

more importantly, if he was okay. 

but, there was nothing. yeonjun made up his mind to go and look for soobin, to chastise him over the rules of etiquette. he could have at least sent some kind of a coded message, or the way they sent letters in those historical dramas his mom watched, by pigeon or friend. 

yeonjun was startled out of his anxiety when a girl slid into the seat across from him. he recognized her to be woojin's sister, i.e. the only other person besides soobin who had known about yeonjun's crossdressing adventure. 

he had never really thought about it, but someone of the three (yeonjun, soobin, and yerim) had to have started the wildfire of spilling the secret, and yeonjun knew for sure that he hadn't done it, and soobin had been too scared at the time to even look at yeonjun properly in front of a crowd to actually admit yeonjun's true gender. 

through process of elimination...

he stared at her coldly, allowing his anger to be conveyed wordlessly. hadn't she been trusted? didn't she know what telling one person about it was going to lead to?

yerim avoided his gaze. "you're... june, right?"  
  
"yeonjun," he corrected. "what do you want?"  
  
"daisy invited you here for a hangout," yerim motioned to the table of girls, who were now quietly whispering among each other.

he snapped, "i asked, what did _you_ want."  
  
"i'm sorry," she whispered, so quietly that yeonjun almost wondered if he had imagined it.

he frowned, answering, "it's a bit late for that."  
  
yerim explained, "i.. i was only talking to woojin, i promise! i didn't know daisy heard... and then she.. she made me tell her everything. she was the one that spread it!"  
  
"what are you talking about?!" yeonjun couldn't help it. the anger and frustration over everything that had been happening had built up pressure in his chest, and it seemed like this would be his first chance at letting it out. 

yerim nervously twirled her hands together. "please... i swear i didn't know they would hurt you... i... she made me tell her..."  
  
yeonjun glanced over at the group of girls, noticing one of them stare furiously over at yerim. deducing her to be daisy, yeonjun wondered what she had done to make woojin's sister this much of a mess. 

yerim glanced up at yeonjun. "you shouldn't tell her it's you. something bad is going to happen if you do. please, just go back to school!"

"hey, what's going on here?" a dark-haired girl suddenly loomed over them. "yerim, you seem so upset."  
  
yerim looked up at the girl and immediately flushed when they made eye contact. she looked down at the table's surface, but nothing could hide the shade of red that her face and ears had become. 

huh. yeonjun made an assumption and wondered if it was true. but when he looked over to the newcomer, he did not find any of yerim's shyness mirrored in her angry facial features. 

"well, we were just waiting for someone, so if you'll excuse us-"  
  
"i'm june," yeonjun stood up as the girl had reached forward and taken ahold of yerim's arm, whose look of utter panic had caused yeonjun to interrupt. "actually, that's what i went by when i dressed up at the dress. my name is actually yeonjun."  
  
her curiously amber-colored eyes lit up at yeonjun's introduction. "oh, well, hi. i'm daisy; i wrote you the invitation... i have to say, i'm kinda... disappointed. you really made everyone think you were a girl and that we were absolute villains to think otherwise."

"i had my reasons for doing it," yeonjun rose to his full height and tried to not let it show how much she scared him. "now, i just wanted to show up and tell you the truth. everybody knows it, so you shouldn't be left out."  
  
he started to leave, but daisy hummed, "oh, come with me!" the small group of girls got up and followed them outside. a few people sent him questioning looks when they saw yeonjun surrounded by all of them. 

helpless to do much but go where they told him to, yeonjun obliged. 

they stepped outside and kept walking until they happened upon an alleyway.   
  
yeonjun felt a chill run down his spine. suddenly everything seemed terribly wrong. 

"hey, thanks for luring him here."  
  
yeonjun's heart immediately raced with fear. he knew that voice, and knew it well. the lower pitch, terror-inducing tone of a person yeonjun wished would just leave him alone. hadn't he made his point the first time?  
  
he swiveled around and stared into the eyes of wonwoo park. 

wonwoo lunged out and seized hold of yeonjun's arm. out of pure fright, yeonjun couldn't get his body to respond to the panicked commands his brain managed to think of. run, move, hit him, get away, nothing worked. 

daisy harrumphed. "where's my money? all 50 bucks, don't try to cheat me."  
  
"ha, really?" wonwoo's grip was like a vise on yeonjun's arm, getting tighter with each passing second. "he didn't come here all dressed up. that was a big part of the task. all you get is half."  
  
daisy rolled her eyes, waving away the group, including a wide-eyed, scared yerim, who, despite all that talk before, still listened to daisy. "i don't mind, just hold up that other part of the deal."

and she walked away, leaving yeonjun behind. the arm that wonwoo had grabbed was coincidentally the same one he had injured a few weeks ago. soobin had been so happy when the scar had healed completely, until the letters of a hateful word had become practically invisible.  
  
wonwoo turned to yeonjun and grinned, "alright, just behave and things don't have to get messy. i'm sure you're gonna cooperate right? i know you're not a troublemaker."  
  
yeonjun pushed his feet into the ground and tried to wrench himself from wonwoo's grasp, jerking his arm to let go. 

wonwoo pulled him closer and locked yeonjun against his chest, shaking his head. "nope, that's not gonna work, ya twink."

yeonjun kicked out his legs and managed to pull himself free. he landed on the ground and pushed himself up in the same second, probably incurring a few bloody scrapes on his palms and knees. 

as he jumped up, a boy stepped forward to block his way, holding his arms out to take up more space. he grinned maliciously. "and where are you going?"  
  
a second, who yeonjun recognized as jinhyuk, stood nearby, looking uncertain. 

this made yeonjun pause long enough for wonwoo to catch hold on him again, this time slamming him roughly against the side of the building that bordered half of the alley. 

yeonjun felt his breath knocked out of his lungs, and he gasped, trying to catch it. the panic made his chest seize and he couldn't force himself to breathe. 

jinhyuk suddenly called out, "ah, woo, come on! why can't you just leave this kid alone? last time the whole school blew up about it, and we got detention. do you know what's gonna happen if our parents find out we did shit like that?"  
  
yeonjun finally found his breath and heaved for air, looking around for a way to be free. 

wonwoo scoffed. "at school he's got all those bodyguards with him. now, a bunch of gays wouldn't be enough to stop me, but they all tend to be problematic when you hurt their feelings. besides, this ain't on school property. even if he tries to snitch on us again, the school can't do shit about it."  
  
yeonjun started to pray for a miracle, but then stopped. why was he looking for others to save him? if he tried, yeonjun knew he could outsmart them and escape. he didn't need to depend on anyone else for his safety, especially if he was the one who came looking for the trouble. 

but then something struck him by surprise. 

wonwoo had him trapped against the wall, but he managed to bring up a hand and stroke yeonjun's face. "damn, you really are pretty." 

he stared into yeonjun's eyes and actually seemed to mean what he said.  
  
at this, yeonjun was disgusted and shocked. was he serious? where was this coming from? after what wonwoo had done all this time? how was he supposed to react?  
  
wonwoo had grabbed both of yeonjun's wrists in his left hand, and his legs were on either side of yeonjun's waist, holding him in place. there was not much yeonjun could do to get away. not only was wonwoo holding him down, but there were two other people ready to trap him even if he could somehow get free.

he laughed as if he knew what yeonjun's panicked thoughts were, and then rolled his hips in a very deliberate way. it was clear what he was after, what he was planning to do. 

somehow in yeonjun's mind, through a haze of fear and horror, finally found his brain working.

yeonjun pulled his wrists apart and shoved his knee into some part of wonwoo's leg; he didn't stay to assess the damage. 

wonwoo fell to the ground with an audible cry of shock, and there was a nasty crack that sounded from behind yeonjun. 

with wild war cries, jisung suddenly rounded the corner and attracting the attention of jinhyuk and the third one, yelling something about knowing tae kwon do. 

jeongin rolled his eyes at jisung's antics and informed them, "i called the cops on your asses. they should be here any minute now."

"'the cops'?" jisung repeated, "the cops? we don't need no stinking cops; just let me at them! i'll tae kwon do them up!"  
  
yeonjun tried to gauge if he could somehow make it past them. he was sure jeongin was bluffing just to give him a chance to make a run for it. 

jeongin then took out his phone and tapped quickly at it, holding out for them to see. "alright, so i've got jinhyuk seo and caleb kim here, and wonwoo park is in the back. i'm recording their faces right now."

caleb cussed and strutted forward. "you little ass-"

jinhyuk snapped, "wait. he could actually be recording. hang on a sec."

a weak cough sounded behind them, and they started to turn around to see what happened. yeonjun ducked around them and reached out to grab jisung and jeongin's arms, dragging them with him. 

he ran without thinking, just desperate to get away, and to take the two new friends he'd made out of harm's way. 

once they were far enough, jisung gasped, "i'd rather you pull my arm socket out and drag my corpse along than run another step."  
  
yeonjun paused in his sprinting and watched them both double over and catch their breaths. he felt bad for asking them this in their state, but he was curious. "how did you guys find me?"  
  
"are you kidding?" jeongin explained, "at first we just wanted to go to the cafe for food so we kept walking the same direction as you. then we saw you get dragged out by those girls."  
  
jisung continued, nodding, "we figured it was your business, until we saw them come back in and laugh about tricking 'that dumbass june kid'. didn't take us much to figure something was wrong."  
  
"did you actually call the police," yeonjun looked to jeongin. 

jeongin shrugged. "yeah, but i wasn't actually recording them."

"if we had the recording, we could have shown it to a teacher or something," yeonjun sighed. 

jisung straightened up again as best as he could. "naw, jun. what that kid said was right. the school can't do anything 'cause it didn't happen on school property."

jeongin asked quietly, "are you okay?"

yeonjun shook his head. "i'm still kinda shocked... that was scary."

jisung decided, "it's getting dark; maybe we should get back before they lock us out of the school."

* * *

soobin jolted up. he could see a silhouette in the darkness through his window. 

it made a tapping noise again, shaking the glass lightly. 

slightly paranoid, soobin slid out of his bed and reached out to grasp the swivel chair at his desk before he recognized mark's confused face through the glass. 

he quickly pushed open the window and asked, "what are you doing here?"  
  
mark explained, "uh, something happened and we were asked to get you back to school."

soobin felt his chest squeeze with a bad feeling, but he nodded, saying, "let me grab something real quick."  
  
he walked over to his desk and picked up the last hoodie he had, pulling it over his shirt for protection against the cold. 

he slid out of the window, a heaviness in his limbs. after the events of the last 12 hours, he really wanted to see yeonjun. 

mark motioned, "haechan came with me; hope you don't mind."  
  
"why would he mind, idiot," haechan nudged mark's arm. "let's hurry up before the security dudes notice we're gone."  
  
while they rushed back to school, soobin thought about the secret his father had confessed to him, the reason why he was so distant and his mother was always angry. soobin remembered the fight that had burst up between his parents when he told them about the reason why he'd been suspended. 

before he knew it, they were back at their shithole of a school, and they snuck back in through a secret entrance that everyone knew about. 

a secret that really wasn't so secret. 

somehow the idea of this made soobin laugh a little. 

as they walked into the building that housed the dorms, mark waved. "and this is where we'll leave you. we'll tell everyone you got back, you just... go see yeonjun."

he shared a knowing look with haechan, and they both bit back laughter, which, oddly enough, made soobin feel embarrassed. 

quickly thanking them, soobin almost tripped over himself to get to the dorm hall. once he found it, he couldn't hold it back anymore and broke into a run. 

the door was ajar, and soobin pushed it open, leaning against it to close it again. he searched earnestly and grinned when he found him. 

"it's only been two days but i missed you a lot."


	25. ₂₅ | like some kinda bruce lee

yeonjun was sitting in the middle of soobin's bed, staring down at his hands. he mumbled something incoherently that soobin couldn't understand.

he climbed onto the bedding and sat down beside him. "what did you say?" soobin looked down at yeonjun's hands and saw the freshly-scraped skin.

yeonjun closed his hands and looked soobin in the eye. "what happened to your phone? you haven't answered me all this time."

soobin sighed. "a bunch of crazy stuff happened. i.. i told my mom about us and she threw a fit - and my phone out the window of the moving car."

yeonjun tried to maintain his composure, but the smile spread through his face before he could stop it. "no way; did she really? i'm.. i'm sorry."

"don't apologize, it wasn't your fault," soobin shrugged.

"no, i'm apologizing because she probably said a bunch of bad stuff and all i can focus on is the fact that you _told_ her," yeonjun grinned.

soobin also smiled, "well, she didn't say much. she called me a bunch of insults and said she regretted birthing me, so that's all."

"oh no, are you kidding me? that's terrible," yeonjun shook his head. "are you okay?"

soobin nonchalantly threw an arm around yeonjun's shoulder.

"i don't know," he sighed with the weight of the world, "my mom threatened to divorce my dad and ran out on us, and then my dad opened up about something from his past, which was supposed to be the reason why my mom hates me so much? anyway, what's going on with you? how come mark and haechan came to get me?"

yeonjun held out his hands to soobin. "the note asked me to go to a hangout."

soobin grabbed his hands lightly, then looked warily at yeonjun. "the note that i told you you shouldn't read? that very specific note?"

yeonjun looked sheepishly at soobin. "i didn't think this would happen."

and yeonjun launched into the tale of what had happened a few hours ago.

soobin cursed and started to get up.

"where are you going?"

"i'm sick of that kid always coming after you," soobin commented angrily.

"oh, and what are you gonna do?" yeonjun was speaking with a teasing tone, but in reality, he was worried soobin would actually go and do something stupid.

luckily, yeonjun had said just the thing to make soobin pause and reconsider. "okay, i see your point," he frowned and lowered himself to the bed again. "but still, something has to change."

he once again took hold of yeonjun's hands, gingerly. "he could have done something bad to you."

"but he didn't," yeonjun reminded him. "everything was okay."

"maybe this time," soobin argued. "what's going to stop him from doing it again? can't we tell someone about it? oh, we could tell your parents-"

"no," yeonjun cut him off. "they would never let me set foot out of the house if they found out."

"you have to tell her eventually," soobin pleaded, "come on, junie. i just don't want you to get hurt anymore."

"alright, fine, i'll tell her," yeonjun sighed, "later."

soobin smiled widely. "good."

||

the next day, yeonjun found himself sitting in an empty room, looking around nervously. no one had arrived for detention, and he didn't even see the school's principal, which he considered a good sign.

the bell rang for the start of school, so yeonjun got up, grabbing his stuff. he walked out of the empty classroom used for their detentions, and wondered if something was wrong.

yeonjun figured he was too late to attend his normal classes, so he headed up to the office.

inside, he found several of the boys serving detention with him, but they were happy this time.

mark grinned, "well, you made it. guess we have to call seungmin back? he went to go look for you."

felix exclaimed, "yo, yeonjun, did you hear? the school's filing something against mr. lee! the vice principal-"

"-ms. choi," woojin kim corrected.

felix waved it off. "she told us that if things go well, we could get chris and minho back! and everything could be cleared from our records!"

yeonjun frowned, "hang on, what? what's going on?"

"the police are here and we're supposed to give our testimony to how mr. lee was with us," hyunjin couldn't stop grinning. "but, we're getting everyone back!"

"what about the detentions?"

"it will be like we never had them!"

"who the hell cares about that? chris is coming back," felix yelled out.

hyunjin added, "and minho!"

yeonjun felt like crying. it was almost too good to be true. "oh, well, shouldn't everybody come back today? you know, for the testimonies and all."

lucas poked yeonjun's shoulder. "ah, everyone? including your boyfriend that just sneaked out of school this morning?"

yeonjun covered his face in embarrassment and shyness as everyone laughed.

ms. choi stepped out of the office that was once mr. lee's. there was a stressed look on her face, but that disappeared when she saw everyone celebrating. "you guys sure seem happy."

"chris is coming back," felix exclaimed again.

"well, i just finished calling everybody's parents; there's no guarantee quite yet," she shook her head.

seungmin walked in then, and he let out a breath upon finding yeonjun in the middle of the room. "oh god, i was looking for him everywhere! i even checked the janitor's closets-"

"shh," everybody rushed to quiet seungmin down.

ms. choi raised an eyebrow. "the janitor's closets are forbidden to students, correct, everyone?"

"yes, ms. choi," they chorused in response.

she then looked to yeonjun, her eyebrows furrowing with worry. "yeonjun, come here. i need to talk to you."

everyone started up with their happy chatter as yeonjun followed her out of the room, down a hall and into a room where jisung and jeongin were nervously sitting down with a pair of officers.

ms. choi motioned for yeonjun to sit down and explained, "don't be scared. it's just, jisung and jeongin here just told me a story that i think we should hear from your perspective. it happened yesterday off-campus and involved a few students from here?"

yeonjun shook slightly in his chair, remembering how angry wonwoo had been the first time he'd told. what if he found out again? soobin had been so worried yesterday...

he stared down at his palms, looking at the scrapes that had scabbed over in his sleep yesterday. 

jisung explained, "yeonjun, we told her about what they tried to do to you yesterday. and, we all know there was another time. you had the scars for awhile."

ms. choi nodded, sitting down. "the officers here are just recording. it's just to make sure we have all the facts - the truth, this time. no overriding, no nonsense."

one of the officers cleared her throat. "excuse me, mr. choi. i'm officer liu and this is officer nam. we're just here to help. you don't need to be scared. we've heard quite a few reports from this school that always ended up silenced, and we want to know what's going on."

the second one continued, "that mr. lee was a shady dude. we need to be as thorough as possible to get him."

"you know, there are quite a few accounts of sexual assault against wonwoo park," officer liu explained, flipping through a notebook. "are you another?"

yeonjun glanced at the closed door. officer nam noticed, and assured him, "we have mr. lee and wonwoo park removed from the premises. there are a few other suspects that might have helped them, but there's no way they can hurt you here."

they all looked to him. though he was embarrassed of the course of events, yeonjun stared down at his hands while he talked, recalling as much detail as he could for the officers, who seemed so much more unconventional than the kind of ideas of a police officer yeonjun had in his head.

when he was done, yeonjun was handed a box of tissues, which he took, surprised by the fact that he had been crying.

officer liu scoffed, shaking her head. "i'm making it personal now. that kid's not getting away without the punishment he deserves."

officer nam agreed. "but, hey? isn't there security at this school?" at ms. choi's slow nod, he shook his head. "wow, really? they're not doing a very good job. amber's dog would be better security; did you know he speaks chinese?!"

officer liu rolled her eyes at officer nam's comment. "off the record, you said you kicked his leg?" when yeonjun answered that he had, she grinned, "it's broken right now. if that was you, nice going."

yeonjun felt a spark of pride burn in his chest.

jisung exclaimed, "y'all should have seen him! he was like some kinda bruce lee, just kicking everything and-" he motioned with his arms and legs for them.

the officers laughed politely and jeongin begged jisung to sit down and not embarrass him for once.

ms. choi stood up. "yeonjun, could you go out there and tell everyone to get back to class? we were just waiting for you at this point, and now all we can do is wait, so i think it would be best if you get your education. and you two, as well, get back to class," she motioned to jeongin and jisung.

jeongin sighed, "dang it, i have a science quiz today; i didn't study for it 'cause i thought we'd be here."

"they just told us this morning that we had to come here," jisung questioned.

"yeah! it cut into my study time!"

yeonjun told everyone what the vice principal had informed him, and felix asked, "aw, can't we wait 'til chris gets here?! i wanna be the first to say hi to him!"

yeonjun admitted, "i kind of want to wait too-"

seungmin grabbed his backpack and insisted, "no, guys, we should just get to class. we'll get in trouble if we stay."

"but, we'll be marked tardy to this period anyway," woojin shrugged.

the bell rang again, informing them of the start of a passing period.

"welp, guess we have to go now," daehwi sighed, walking through the door first with his friends following him.

"hey, yeonjun, what class do you have next?" several of his teammates surrounded him again.

yeonjun hummed, "i'm pretty sure i have my science class right now."

"oh, same," jeongin let out a loud groan. "how are we gonna pass the quiz?"

with that, yeonjun walked out of the office with the crowd, though he kept looking around to see if he could catch a glimpse of soobin, if he was arriving.

after everything that happened, it felt weird to sit in his small desk, staring at a blank sheet of paper. yeonjun tried to summon any knowledge of science forth in his head, feeling overwhelmed.

the teacher at the front of the room commanded for them to start, and yeonjun flipped his paper over, reading over the print.

he felt relieved as the information suddenly bloomed forth in his mind, and he started filling out the answers as he read the question, satisfied.

the rest of his classes, until lunch, passed by without much happening. yeonjun was not very interested in the setting around him, so he spent most of his time going through the photo album in his phone.

the only time that he even really had his attention on the class was when his math teacher started passing out the permission slips for the trip they'd be taking next week.

"hey, what's this for," yeonjun tapped the shoulder of the boy who sat in front of him, changbin.

changbin raised an eyebrow. "for real? yj, that's for the theme park field trip. with the roller coasters? they told us about it in the beginning of the year??"

"oh." yeonjun looked over the permission slip, recalling when he'd told his friends about it. it seemed so long ago, as if it had happened to him in another lifetime.

before yeonjun could truly think over the events that had happened in such a short time, he got a text from an unknown number.

[unknown]:   
how does bill gates sing a song and why is beomgyu asking me that

yeonjun:   
MICROSOFTLY   
wait who's this

[unknown]:   
smh stranger danger who  
it's me, ur cute ass boyfriend

yeonjun:   
haha nice try

[unknown]:

soobinnie😳👌💕:  
why is there police at school juniewhat did tou do  
typing without looking js hard

yeonjun:   
first of all,

yeonjun:  
second of all,

soobinnie😳👌💕:   
lmao is that all-

yeonjun:   
shut up and let me love you   
THIRD OF ALL,   
WHEN DID YOU GET A NEW PHONE AND WHY DIDNT YOU TELL ME

soobinnie😳👌💕:  
junie guess what i got a new phone

yeonjun:   
smh didn't you just tell me yesterday you didnt have one

soobinnie😳👌💕:  
rich kid tingz 🦋✨

yeonjun:   
lmao shut up  
wait are you in the office   
brb bouta do smth to get myself sent up there   
🎩  
✌️👁💋👁

soobinnie😳👌💕:  
LMAO NO DON'T

yeonjun:   
how do you expect me to concentrate on school work if you and ur cute face are in the same building

soobinnie😳👌💕:

soobinnie😳👌💕:  
you can do it junie i believe in you

yeonjun:   
oH guess what i got   
are you back in school now?

soobinnie😳👌💕:  
what is ittttt  
huh- i guess so?   
thats what my dad says

yeonjun:   
yooo it's lunch time lezgetit  
come and meet us, i'll show you

soobinnie😳👌💕:

soobinnie😳👌💕:  
OMW 🦶

yeonjun:   
why tf did you send-   
nvm


	26. ₂₆ | it's thrice the fun

soobin dropped to the ground, a small smile on his face as kai and taehyun barely registered his arrival.

kai was leaning over to watch taehyun as he played with a deck of cards. his eyes were wide as he regarded taehyun with amazement, as if taehyun was the most amazing person on the planet (fact).

soobin cleared his throat. "'sup y'all."

taehyun nodded. kai blinked and went back to staring at taehyun- no, the cards. no, wait. he was staring at taehyun.

soobin felt the sting of pity in his heart for kai, who he believed was too young to be experiencing what rejection and heartbreak were.

"oh-kay," soobin stretched out the word.

"hi soobin hyung," taehyun greeted flatly, then spun the cards wildly in the air, catching them perfectly.

"hi soob- wHAT THE FUCK HOW DID YOU DO THAT," kai exclaimed.

soobin sighed and leaned back. "do you guys know where junie and beomgyu are?"

taehyun said in a bored tone, "they always show up together. idk, probably on their way right now."

soobin shrugged and looked around to find the two.

walking a little ways away, yeonjun was amicably explaining something to beomgyu, waving a paper in the air while he talked. beomgyu was dancing around as always, the only one who was really able to keep up with yeonjun's energy all the time.

soobin watched them walk over with mild interest.

he noticed how everyone still turned to observe yeonjun when he passed, but soobin was glad they didn't do much besides that.

"hey soob," beomgyu said quickly before diving onto taehyun's lap, disrupting his card tricks and therefore putting an end to kai's staring.

yeonjun grinned, "soobinnie! guess what i got in class today?" he held out the paper to soobin.

once soobin took it, yeonjun dropped to the ground beside him, commanding, "read it!"

nodding, soobin held the paper close to his face, not reading it, but observing yeonjun's reaction.

"noooo," yeonjun smacked soobin repeatedly, but in a playful way. "read it _out_ _loud_."

nodding again, soobin began in a patient tone, "print first name. print last name. date. mrs. wu's math class-"

yeonjun whined and threw a tantrum.

"look at this kid; is he my boyfriend or my baby," soobin questioned.

yeonjun took the paper back and held it against his chest. "both, if i feel like it."

"if you insist," soobin grinned. "okay, give it back; i'll read it this time."

"no! you're being mean."

they began to bicker over the sheet of paper, and taehyun asked aloud, "what are they doing?"

"who even knows anymore," beomgyu sighed, closing his eyes.

kai leaned over and started playing with beomgyu's hair, which looked especially softer than usual. taehyun touched his shoulder with kai's, smiling softly.

"okay, pay attention everyone," yeonjun called out suddenly. he held the permission slip in one hand while the other tugged and pulled absentmindedly at soobin's ear. "so, i got the permission slip today, for that one thing i told you guys about in the beginning of the year-"

"what was that for again?" kai held his hand in the air before speaking.

yeonjun huffed, "are you kidding? it's that rollercoaster thing i told you about."

"oh i don't like rollercoasters," kai shook his head.

"me neither," taehyun added.

"guess you'll have to take soob with you," beomgyu added in a dazed tone. kai was still playing with his hair and he seemed to enjoy it.

yeonjun turned to face soobin, "see! i told you they'd be okay with it."

soobin explained, "but it's on the day of beomgyu's last dance show. remember, he asked us to go?"

"beom-"

"oh no," beomgyu said emotionlessly. "oh well, i guess you'll have to miss it."

yeonjun chided, "okay, if we're gonna miss it, you might as well ask your mom and dad to show up."

beomgyu frowned, but before he could speak, taehyun said lightly, "maybe we should let beom decide that." kai agreed.

soobin nudged yeonjun and signaled to taehyun, who was trying to discreetly hold kai's hand.

taehyun watched them whisper loudly between them. this made kai loose his nerve and let go of taehyun's hand.

"hey, guys?" soobin called out, looking concerned.

yeonjun pointed out, "you've been acting weird lately; what's going on?"

"you know, trust and loyalty are a big part to a relationship-"

"oh my god," taehyun groaned. "i'm telling them."

"no!" kai looked panicked.

likewise, beomgyu sat up and demanded, "why would we do that?!"

"tell us what," yeonjun questioned suspiciously.

kai avoided their gazes, while beomgyu nervously watched taehyun ready an explanation.

"awhile ago, kai confessed to me," taehyun spoke calmly, but it was obvious he was afraid of their reactions. "i said i had to think about it because i felt conflicted. then beom came in and confessed to me too. see, we all kind of mutually agreed, um.."

"to date," kai suddenly spoke up. "the three of us."

"we didn't think people would be very accepting of it," beomgyu offered, "so we decided we'd say taehyunnie and i were dating to everybody else."

"that's the day you guys found me and i told you," kai shrugged slightly.

they were quiet for a few seconds, but then yeonjun exploded.

"i am so disappointed in you," he frowned and looked upset.

beomgyu looked scared and started to take it all back.

"i get lying to soobinnie, but, beom, we're best friends; why didn't you tell me earlier," he scoffed exasperatedly.

taehyun let out a breath. "are you kidding me, yeonjun hyung?"

kai laughed. "i almost thought he was really mad."

"i am," yeonjun insisted, but everyone knew he wasn't serious.

beomgyu argued good-naturedly, "besides, how long did it take you two to tell us about your relationship? and, anyway, the entire school found out about it before you told us on your own."

"he's got a point there," soobin nodded, admitting defeat. "anyway, how exactly does that work?"

yeonjun pointed out, "are you sure it's not like some love triangle thing like in 'i love yoo'?"

"this has nothing to do with webtoons," taehyun shook his head.

kai held up his phone. "hold on! before we move on, i have some recommendations! straight from the author herself, lezgetit! check out 'lookism', 'lost in translation', 'true beauty', and 'my giant nerd boyfriend'!"

"are you done?" everyone looked to kai. he nodded.

taehyun said with a mischievous smile, "well, it's like any normal couple; only it's three people so it's thrice the fun."

beomgyu raised his eyebrows at taehyun. "we're still trying to figure it out ourselves."

soobin shrugged, "i can't even pretend to understand that, but you guys are happy, so.. y'all'd better not break kai's heart or i'm coming after both of you."

beomgyu went back to laying down in taehyun's lap, but he ended up also stretching out his legs on kai's.

"imagine being like taehyun?" yeonjun shook his head, "i can't even get one boy to like me."

"excuse me, what am i," soobin cried out.

"a beanstalk."

"you got me there," soobin nodded.

beomgyu called out, "the way yeonjun's always playing with soobin hyung's face, he's not a person, just a piece of meat."

yeonjun was still touching soobin's ears when they said this, so he argued, "well, can you blame me? soobinnie has like, the softest ears i've ever touched."

"the way you said that was so weird," soobin laughed, "whose ears are you going around touching?"

"why would i touch anyone else's ears when i have yours," yeonjun shook his head.

kai asked aloud, "hey, imagine if we acted like them all the time?"

to which taehyun said in an exaggerated way, "aw, kai! look at you looking all cute today!" he pulled a little too enthusiastically at kai's cheek.

kai laughed, "aw, taehyunnie, kai thanks you very much!" he threw his arms around taehyun.

beomgyu frowned. "what about me?"

"how could we forget our baby bear," taehyun ruffled beomgyu's hair.

yeonjun turned to look at soobin. "are they making fun of us?"

"no, i think it's more like a competition," soobin grinned slightly, meaning it as a joke.

but competitions were never jokes, at least not when taehyun and yeonjun were around.

"shut up and accept my love!" yeonjun pulled soobin into his lap and made faces at him while he ruffled his hair and complimented him.

for the next half hour, yeonjun and taehyun tried to show off their relationship's skinship while their boyfriends simply enjoyed the attention and were a little confused.

||

"i'm so tired," kai yawned as he met up with beomgyu and taehyun.

beomgyu huffed, "me too."

taehyun raised his eyebrows. "really? both of you?"

beomgyu rubbed at his eyes and nodded. kai also followed suit.

"you two are never tired," taehyun narrowed his eyes. "what's going on?"

"we really are tired," kai insisted.

taehyun was suspicious. "how about we just get something to eat first?"

beomgyu shook his head. "sleepy. now."

they were walking through the hall, having been on the way to the dorms, but taehyun detoured them towards the school's cafe. he had a feeling he knew what was going on.

beomgyu and kai grabbed onto his sleeves, and kai explained, "that's the wrong way!"

taehyun shook his arms free. "i'm hungry though. i promise, i'll be quick."

they dutifully followed along, sharing looks.

after taehyun had gotten his food, he decided, "let's sit outside; come on."

he ignored their protests again, and instead led the way to a spot in front of the school, where not that many people hung out after school. most of the people they saw they were attempting to sneak out somewhere else and not really looking to stick around.

kai and beomgyu seemed bummed out.

taehyun called out, "okay, the jig is up. why'd you have to team up against me?"

they widened their eyes with innocence taehyun knew they did not have.

beomgyu spoke first. "okay, we just wanted cuddles."

"you could have just asked," taehyun informed them.

"it feels weird.. awkward, to do that," kai made a face.

taehyun joked, "so you'd rather manipulate me? anyway, i don't really want to go to the dorm right now.."

"why not?" beomgyu scratched his head. "i really am kinda sleepy now that i think about it."

"did you not hear yeonjun hyung and soobin hyung?" taehyun made a face. "they had something planned."

"oh, ew," kai made retching noises. "you didn't have to tell us that."

"so, then, what do you guys want to do today?"

"oh, we can go to the art room! please," kai begged, "i wanted to sign up for the art club."

"is that just 'cause i signed up the other day," beomgyu grinned and poked kai's shoulder.

kai hid a smile and insisted, "no, i just happen to be interested in any kind of art; taehyun being one of them."

"oh my god," beomgyu shouted, shaking his head. "that was too much!"

taehyun laughed nervously and didn't know how to react. should he thank kai? insist he wasn't art? agree?

"okay, okay, but we'll just go until soobin hyung and yeonjun hyung are done-"

"shut up," kai screeched again. "ew it's like thinking of my parents doing it; that's disgusting!"

||

waenggang: are ya done yet

junie_choi: wut u talkin about

kingtaehyun:

waengagng; don't play dumb

binnie_choi: W H A T

hueningkk: EW SHUT UP WITH THAT

kingtaehyun:

kingtaehyun: yall r gross

waenggang:

waenggang: at least be more subtle and LESS LOUD NEXT TIME

junie_choi: dirty ass children smh

huening kk: OK WE'RE THE DIRTY ONES, SURE

binnie_choi: I M S T I L L C O N F U S E D W H A T

kingtaehyun: ^ you're always confused

waenggang: ^ true

hueningkk: ^

junie-choi: ^

junie-choi: oops

binnie-choi: yOu dId nOt JUsT dO tHaT

kingtaehyun: so are yall done yet or what bc we tried to go back to our room and-

waenggang: DONT SAY IT

hueningkk: yeonjun hyung i am never looking at you the same way again

junie-choi: LMAO WHAT DO YOU THINK WE WERE DOIN

hueningkk:

waenggang:

kingtaehyun:

binnie-choi: oh yall are doing this just cuz ur puberty started right

junie-choi: i-

hueningkk: LeAvE mY pUbErTy oUt oF tHiS

waenggang: jOkEs oN yOu i hAvEnT sTaRtEd miNe

kingtaehyun:

kingtaehyun: we tried, we really did

waenggang:

junie-choi: fOR YOUR INFORMATION WE WEREN'T DOING ANYTHING INAPPROPRIATE

hueningkk: STOP TALKING ABOUT IT SHHHH

waenggang:

junie-choi: I SWEAR TO GOD SOOB AND I WERE JUST TRYING TO KILL A SPIDER

binnie-choi: OH DID YALL HEAR WHEN I SCREAMED LMAO

kingtaehyun:

waenggang:

hueningkk:   
DISGUSTANG

junie-choi: yall really are dirty minded   
stop it, get some help

binnie-choi: shakdjsksh there really was a spider we did nothing wrong besides kill it

junie-choi: and jump on the beds

hueningkk: im leaving this earth 💀👌

waenggang: how does one leave the chat ffs

kingtaehyun: WE DON'T WANT TO HEAR IT   
PLEASE AKRJAKSJ


	27. ₂₇ | naruto in a batman cape

"aw, you drooled all over my shoulder," yeonjun poked at his shirt with dissatisfaction.

soobin looked guilty. "i'm sorry; i was really tired today. why do we have to wake up at 6am for this anyway?"

yeonjun shrugged. "the park's far away, i guess. this shirt was my favorite one..."

soobin frowned, "i'm sorry junie, what can i do?"

yeonjun grinned evilly, for he'd been waiting for soobin to say that. he got interrupted by the teacher before he could say anything, though.

she started passing out worksheets, informing the class that the field trip was meant to be fun, but there was work to do beforehand.

yeonjun poked soobin's arm, commenting, "you know, that hoodie looks real nice-"

soobin sighed, fighting a smile as he tugged the orange pullover hoodie over his head. 

as he handed it to yeonjun, he begged, "junie please.... it's the last one i have-"

"i'm taking this one too, and you already know that's going to happen," yeonjun pointed out.

soobin leaned over to yeonjun's ear and whispered, "you'd better come with me to buy more, then."

yeonjun was thrilled with the idea of another shopping date, but his happiness was quickly halted when the teacher called out, "yeonjun, can you repeat what i just told the class?"

panicking, yeonjun looked around the bus to his classmates' faces, calling for help.

he caught changbin's eyes, who motioned with his hands, pointing to him and felix.

"th-the buddy system," yeonjun guessed based on the signal that he interpreted from changbin, "we're using the buddy system?"

the teacher sighed, shaking her head."we'll be putting everyone in small groups, so stick with the people you want to be with."

when she finally finished explaining, everyone started started filing out of the bus. outside, yeonjun caught up to changbin.

"yo, cb, what was that," he cried, "i depended on you!"

changbin exclaimed, "what! i was trying to ask if you and sb wanted to be in a group with lix and me; excuse me for trying to be nice!"

"hey now, there's no need to fight," felix was quick to intercept.

"who said anything about fighting," changbin shook his head. "i'd never fight yj."

felix laughed, "i'm just being cautious; you don't want to get expelled now, do you?"

yeonjun was staring at soobin with his arms crossed, pouting excessively.

he leaned in closer to soobin's face as he appeared to be distracted by the surroundings, meaning to tease soobin and only pretend to attempt a kiss.

soobin turned his head at the last second and flinched back hard, unsure what yeonjun was trying to attempt.

yeonjun instead touched his head to soobin's for a bit before moving away and insisting, "if we're trying to ditch the crowd we should get going already."

soobin touched his hand to his cheek and watched yeonjun start walking off with changbin and felix. he could have sworn he could almost feel yeonjun's lips on his face, but soobin brushed it off, thinking yeonjun would never do that in front of a crowd...

making sure no one was looking, soobin ducked his head down and raced after the trio that had almost left him behind.

||

"why are the lines for the rides so long," changbin whined, "i'm not having it, standing in the sun like this."

yeonjun was hunched over in soobin's shadow. "no ride is worth getting burnt like a chicken nugget."

soobin wiped the sweat off his brow and pleaded, "we're almost there; i like this one.."

felix also agreed, "it does look cool; can we just go on this one? then we'll do something else you guys want to do."

"aw, fine," changbin sighed, leaning his head onto felix's shoulder nonchalantly.

yeonjun stood up and stared into soobin's eyes again, seriously. he then leaned in close, and soobin jumped at his sudden movement.

"you have something

on your face," yeonjun explained to his skittish boyfriend, and scooted even closer, using his hand to brush at soobin's cheek.

discreetly, he raised his eyebrows at another boy that had been staring. he flushed and averted his eyes, so yeonjun turned back and continued brushing at the invisible "something" on soobin's face.

soobin wondered slyly if this was yeonjun trying to mess with him or actually attempting to kiss him but changed his mind so suddenly.

at last, they were able to get on the ride, which was a swinging pirate ship that swung quickly back and forth and so high they were almost hanging upside down.

felix got a devious look on his face. "yo, binnie-"

soobin turned in confusion.

yeonjun grabbed his face and turned it back, frowning, "you're only binnie to me."

at soobin's nod, yeonjun also did the same and this time actually sent him an air kiss before turning away.

felix ended up daring changbin to yell the name of his crush when they got to the highest point in the ride.

soobin looked pointedly at yeonjun, who shook his head and whispered, "they're not dating. yet. be prepared, it might get super awkward soon."

though, once the ride started, they forgot all about everything else and just screamed wordlessly, holding their hands in the air.

felix whooped crazily, and yeonjun was trying to concentrate on how the ride made him feel, but he kept watching soobin and the extreme happiness that filled his face.

yeonjun barely even heard when changbin yelled felix's name, as expected, and didn't pay attention when they put their arms around each other and continued screaming.

he was just so happy at seeing the big smile on soobin's face he didn't mind waiting in the sun for it.

when they got off, felix and changbin were conversing in low voices, both wearing big smiles.

"is this the part where we get ditched," soobin asked aloud.

yeonjun insisted, "nah, they would never do that.."

but it did prove kind of awkward for yeonjun and soobin as the pair were suddenly giggling messes and always had their arms around each other.

but what yeonjun and soobin did not realize was that they were always touching - while walking, they would hold hands or intertwine their arms together, or soobin would have an arm around yeonjun or vice versa, and they made others uncomfortable with how nonchalant and comfortable they looked together.

after they had stopped to play a game that soobin insisted he was good at - after he always ended up losing at everything he bragged about, yeonjun didn't really believe him but decided to go ahead and humor him anyway.

but this time, soobin did end up winning, and yeonjun cheered. soobin looked shocked that he had won, which made yeonjun dance and cheer louder.

changbin asked, "woah, yj, someone beat you and you're not mad about it? he won first place..."

"that's right," yeonjun grinned, nodding. "that's my boyfriend right there."

soobin looked embarrassed by all the sudden attention, and covered his face while yeonjun asked the attendant what he had won.

"here, let me help you," yeonjun insisted, unfolding the black batman cape soobin had won. he successfullydraped it on soobin's shoulders but seemed to struggle with tying the ends together around soobin's neck.

he suddenly loomed closer, and soobin mentally sighed, "not again", making up his mind that he'd put a stop to whatever mixed signals or hints yeonjun was trying to tease him with.

"thanks," soobin said shortly, then placed a hand tenderly under yeonjun's chin, pulling him closer. when their lips touched, a few enthusiastic cheers sounded nearby.

"y'all cute," one of them said.

"that's a pretty nice thanks for him just tying a cape on you," felix smirked at his own joke.

when soobin finally let yeonjun go, the poor elder was blushing furiously and shyly avoided eye contact with everyone.

soobin posed with a fist in the air, causing yeonjun to giggle and snap a few photos. he then held his arms in the air behind him and shot off, running naruto-style throughthe crowd.

"he just did a superman pose in a batman cape," changbin gasped in horror.

felix shook his head sadly, "forget that; he's naruto-running in a batman cape."

"do we know them? i think we don't know them," changbin joked, covering his face as people continued turning their heads to watch soobin naruto-running through everyone.

finally, he made it back, and yeonjun laughed heartily, tapping soobin's cheek as he informed him, "you're so cute!"

they ended up going on a few more rides and played every single game the park had to offer. by the end of the day, yeonjun and soobin could barely carry their prizes.

changbin said to felix, "you know, i'm happy with this little pig plushie i got, even if it's a consolation prize-"

"yeah, it's adorable; you did your best and that's what matters," felix tried to cheer him up.

they stopped to get some churros because yeonjun really wanted to, and they started to wonder where the rest of the class was.

"okay, we can go look for them after we eat." yeonjun suddenly challenged, "i bet you can't finish faster than me!"

but, alas, soobin finished first, again. he laughed, "what is it with me? i'm winning all the games today."

changbin suddenly gasped. "yj! the worksheets! we're supposed to do them!"

yeonjun took his crumpled worksheet out of his bag and confidently dropped onto soobin's lap to lean on the table and quickly scribble away on it.

changbin also brought out his, but chose to sit in his own seat, still shy around felix.

he and yeonjun spoke about math concepts soobin wasn't really trying to understand, but was still somehow confused anyway.

felix sighed, "i hate math so much.."

yeonjun agreed, "me too. actually, i hate all subjects, really."

"oh my god you're literally like at the top of every class you have," soobin frowned. "that's not fair."

yeonjun held up a peace sign, "i can't help it if i'm good at everything i do."

changbin decided, "so we're leaving yeonjun behind because he's too good for us-"

when they had finished eating, they managed to luckily catch a glimpse of one of the class' groups walking past. the four discreetly joined it and learned that they were going to stay at a hotel for the night because the school's curfew meant the campus was closed already for the night.

by the time everyone got their worksheets turned in and received their room assignments, changbin, felix, yeonjun, and soobin were all so tired they could barely walk.

"i did a lot of standing today," changbin leaned on felix's shoulder while they walked.

there were others in their group to share the room, and they had a chaperone.

somehow though, when soobin was the first to get into bed as everyone else was getting ready, yeonjun managed to climb into bed with him, and curled up right next to soobin, covering himself with a blanket.

"aw, no, yeonjunie," soobin whispered, "we're gonna get in trouble."

"shh, nobody noticed," yeonjun whispered back. while everyone was still getting ready, he questioned, "how is the case going?"

soobin nodded, "i think we have a good chance of actually sending him to jail."

yeonjun was quiet, mulling things over.

and soobin knew exactly what he was feeling. "no, junie. he doesn't deserve pity. look at all the things he did."

"but, he was just confused," yeonjun insisted, "remember what they were saying about the way his dad treated him? he used to be nice; the abuse turned his mind all weird."

soobin argued as quietly as possible, "no. nothing should excuse the fact that he was hurting people; that he almost hurt you. he doesn't deserve your pity."

and, just like that, it seemed, their nice day had been ruined.

but it was different now. they both had grown in their relationship, and they knew what to say.

"that's just what i feel," yeonjun explained. "i don't want to fight about it."

"i don't want that kid to hurt us anymore than he already has," soobin agreed.

"binnie, i love you," yeonjun laced his arms around soobin.

"i love you too, junie," soobin smiled and discreetly kissed yeonjun's forehead.


	28. ₂₈ | yeonjun’s uno reverse

"say it again," yeonjun pleaded. "i never get tired of hearing it!"

soobin smiled widely. "you're cute."

"not thatttt, i know that," yeonjun shifted closer to soobin so that their bodies were touching, and slid his arms around soobin's shoulders.

soobin laughed and absentmindedly wrapped an arm around yeonjun's waist.

their foreheads touched, and soobin stared into yeonjun's eyes.

"i love you."

yeonjun giggled shyly and buried his face into soobin's chest, squirming.

soobin brushed at yeonjun's hair, unable to stop smiling.

"alright, i said it," he tapped yeonjun's head, "now you say it."

"say what," yeonjun looked up, leaning his chin on soobin's chest.

"you know what."

"okay fine," he sighed, "but just one more time."

soobin clapped his hands eagerly as yeonjun sat up, readying himself.

he took a deep breath, then looked over at soobin, holding out a thumbs up. "you did a good job! good, good, good!"

soobin just about died of laughter, rolling around on his side of the bed.

"i don't know why you like my impressions so much," yeonjun shook his head and wrinkled his nose at soobin's cuteness, also laughing.

"do you think they haven't noticed us come in yet," jisung looked to daehwi.

daehwi crossed his arms. "is anyone this bad in your group?"

jisung rolled his eyes. "don't get me started on my group."

daehwi sighed. "do we just leave them or what?"

jisung argued, "they'll get in trouble if they don't show up to the assembly."

"maybe we should just let them get in trouble," daehwi laughed.

"why do we have so many assemblies anyway," yeonjun grumbled as he rolled off the bed and to his feet.

soobin did the same, also looking grumpy that they were interrupted. "we already know what it's gonna be about anyway."

thus the four of them walked to the auditorium together.

it had been a few months since the fallout with wonwoo and mr. lee, long enough for the ex-principal to lose his credentials and job, and for wonwoo to get sentenced.

ms. choi had replaced the principal, and consequently kept her word; jungkook, jeno, soobin, chris, and minho had returned to school with nothing of their suspensions or expulsions left on their records.

the assembly was supposed to be her announcement of these things, and also that the rules would be changing.

they wouldn't be forced to stay on school property at all times anymore, and the security was done away with. this was strictly to battle against the fact that many students would leave school property anyway, especially during school hours.

she cleared her throat and continued pointedly, "also, our poor janitor has begged me to tell you all that the supply closets are forbidden access to students. he would very much like to enter them without fearing for his sanity."

everyone laughed at this, and yeonjun looked over at soobin to see him red-faced, humiliated.

yeonjun elbowed him lightly. "aw, too bad. the closet was a nice place to hang out, huh, binnie?"

"shhh please," he covered his face.

she also informed them that there would no longer be any bias against students and their relationships, as long as it didn't affect their learning environment.

by then she gave up on reining in the crowd, and chaos broke out.

yeonjun jumped into soobin's arms to avoid getting lost in the crowd, and their friends all somehow found their ways together.

they pushed through the chaos to get outside, laughing and cheering.

chris called out, "hey soobin, guess we should probably thank your dad for all this, right?"

soobin shrugged, getting shy with all the sudden attention.

one good thing had come from his parents' divorce; soobin's dad had heartily apologized to his son for the way he had acted.

though soobin's mother refused to see her "absolute failure of a son", his father had decided to do whatever he could to make it up to him, starting with volunteering to be the lawyer that represented the school against mr. lee, and yeonjun against wonwoo.

all in all, it had been a crazy past few months, but yeonjun and soobin's relationship seemed so much stronger.

the entire campus was in an uproar because it was after school free time, and many were running around asking each other to the dance that had been advertised for about a month now.

"oh my god, look at everyone," mark pointed out the various pairs and groups that were confessing and asking each other to the dance, "um, wasn't like, the entire like, SCHOOL just against y'all like, a few like, months ago?"

"it be like that sometimes," haechan shook his head. as they passed by a pair that were conversing with blushing faces, he shouted, "y'all disgust me! anyways, mark!"

the poor boy turned to look at him with wide eyes.

"when are you gonna ask me to the dance, huh?!"

jungkook arrived to their group with fire in his eyes. "alright, where the fuck is he?"

lucas seemed to be having an argument with the former captain. "soccer ain't that deep, okay? jus 'cause he's from star prep don't mean he's bad!"

jungkook crossed his arms. "you have crossed over to the enemy side; don't look at me."

"what's this all about?"

lucas looked sheepish, shrugging. "remember our game against star prep this year? i'm... dating this boy from their soccer team."

"oh, right on," minho nodded along. "i seen y'all. he cute."

hyunjin gasped dramatically, placing a hand on his chest, "how can you say that in front of me?!"

"like this," minho faced him. "he cute."

hyunjin.exe has stopped working.

yeonjun looked to soobin, motioning him closer. soobin bent over to lower his ear to yeonjun, looking curious.

"are you taking someone else to the dance? is that why you haven't asked me yet," yeonjun pouted, looking down at the ground and wrapping his arms around his torso.

soobin was confused. "no, why would i ask someone else if i'm dating you??"

"you haven't asked me to go with you yet," yeonjun shrugged. "do you have any idea how many people i've been turning down, 'cause i thought you'd ask me any day now? any idea?!"

"but— we're dating," soobin rationalized, "i figured it was kinda already assumed we'd go together."

"rookie mistake," felix shook his head, whispering to chris. in fact, mostly everyone was lowkey eavesdropping on the infamous couple.

yeonjun huffed. "well, asking me to the dance is the most important part! how could you overlook that?"

"okay," soobin nodded, pausing for a second. "junie, would you like to g-"

"not like thatttt," yeonjun whined, beginning to stomp his feet a little in one of his signature tantrums. "you've gotta make it like a big scene! you know what- since i'm asking for it, it doesn't count anymore. i'm gonna go find beomgyu."

he walked off with a pout, and soobin was left there dumbfounded. looking to the side, he was met with the entire soccer team shaking their heads.

renjun scoffed, "what are ya waiting for? go ask him! dummy."

soobin scratched his head, unsure of what to do. he really didn't think it was that serious, but apparently it was?

"you know what? you should get him flowers," woong appeared by soobin's elbow, stars in his eyes.

soobin turned to greet the rest of his friends.

woojin scoffed, "i don't know why everyone's making such a big deal outta the dance. you just gotta man up and ask the person you want."

daehwi sighed, "you talk big for someone who still can't ask youngmin hyung out."

youngmin covered his face at this, while woojin panicked visibly. "what?! what are you saying!? geez, hwi, d-don't be stupid," he laughed nervously.

hyunjin insisted, "the flowers idea's not so bad. or, you know, you could like, i dunno, sing a song or sum."

mark was still blushing, probably because haechan was now holding his hand quite confidently. "or, ya know... he basically already asked you to it..."

lucas was now holding his arms out, seeming to protect a shadow of a person standing behind him. "now, he might be from star prep but i'm not gonna tolerate any of you hurting jungwoo."

"'jungwoo'?" a silver-haired boy soobin had not seen before suddenly showed his face. "you mean, winwin's friend?"

lucas nodded. "y'all.. this is jungwoo. we're like- dating, i guess."

"you guess?" jungwoo frowned, "you literally just held my hand and flirted with me a few minutes ago."

soobin felt happy for his friends and that they were being more open now. he had never really thought lucas would end up with a boyfriend, but, like haechan had said, it be like that.

he looked around for yeonjun worriedly, wondering how the heck he could make it up to him. he really wished he didn't mess up so much. it kinda seemed that a lot of the times, when they had problems, it was because of soobin's mistakes.

the after school crowds started dissipating, leaving the campus and heading to hangouts with their friends. soobin was still wandering through the halls, looking for his elusive, pouty boyfriend.

he turned to go down one of the dorm wings, and found himself face to face with changbin.

"took you long enough," he scoffed, then held out a hand. "wait."

soobin waited.

he was confused, but he figured this was for a good reason. ever since their time at the amusement park, yeonjun had told soobin that he and changbin had actually become closer friends.

so, was this related to yeonjun maybe?

changbin glanced down the hallway, making a few hand motions and flapping his arms in the air, strangely.

suddenly, changbin turned around. "you may proceed."

soobin's heart beat faster, as he was nervous. what was with this whole thing? it was weird.

and then he noticed the freaking candles on the floor.

that's a fire hazard, he thought to himself. who would be so careless to leave candles out in the hallway like this?

and then he halted.

yeonjun stood there, looking absolutely nervous yet adorable in soobin's orange sweater (which he thought he'd LOST - how long was yeonjun going to be stealing his clothes?).

he held out a blue uno reverse card, his shoulders shaking with the laughter he was holding back.

"wh-what's this all about," soobin found himself asking in a panicked tone.

"ta-dah!" beomgyu yelled out as he and kai came running from the side, carrying a huge poster board that said "gotcha! go to the dance with me 🥺".

"if the sign is stupid, just know taehyun came up with that part," yeonjun quickly excused.

"HEY," came taehyun's shout from behind the sign. it was bigger than him. "don't me for your cringe-worthy sign!"

yeonjun turned to soobin. "i know this is hella cheesy, but i really wanted to ask you to the dance myself."

"oh, is that why you threw a tantrum today," soobin grinned, eyeing the card in yeonjun's hand. "what's that for?"

"oh, so, you know how i said you had to ask me? well," yeonjun shrugged nervously. "also, we played uno with our parents during summer, remember?"

"and you pulled a reverse card on me, yeah," soobin laughed.

"so what's the damn answer," beomgyu huffed, "my arms are tired from holding this sign up!"

"yeah, of course i'll go to the dance with you, dummy," soobin nodded, smiling widely.

yeonjun held out a hand. "pause. which 'you' are you going with, june or yeonjun? 'cause that's an important distinction-"

soobin wheezed with laughter. "who do you think i want to go with, huh?"

yeonjun paused for a moment, and soobin could practically feel his heart fall apart as he very shyly lifted up a hand and pointed it at himself, eyes unsure and filled with questions.

"oh my god, yes, of course i want to go with you," soobin threw his arms around yeonjun, crushing him in a hug.

"did he say yes oh god he better have or i'm gonna cook up some tang tang tang whooping are we anti choi soobin now i knew it all along," changbin came rushing up to them.

yeonjun gasped for air, "lungs- getting- crushed-"

soobin quickly let go. "omg, i'm so sorry junie-"

yeonjun caught his breath for a bit before grinning, "he said yes."

changbin pumped his hand in the air. "alright! we can so double date! just as soon as i figure out how to ask felix!"

"aw, we can help you," yeonjun offered, motioning to the trio by his side. "we have a little business going on."

"what business? what kind of money are you making," beomgyu demanded. "you know, now that i remember, didn't you owe me like five bucks-?"

"five bucks?! yeonjun hyung has borrowed money countless of times from me," taehyun crossed his arms.

kai widened his eyes. "hold on, y'all have money?!"

||

after another quick ✨🧚♀️✨✨ promposal ✨🧚♀️✨✨ the boys (no, not those boyz sorry) decided to have a nice little hang out on their own, all sitting together in a café nearby the school.

"you know, all i wanted to do was a have a nice relationship and borrow my boyfriend's hoodies from time to time," yeonjun huffed, "why'd all this have to blow up?"

"i know," soobin shook his head. "you could practically write a book with all the drama we went through."

taehyun made a face at them. "nuh-uh. this isn't wattpad; see that? that's the door."

beomgyu hummed, "speaking of hoodies, i'm kinda cold-"

"borrow kai's hoodie," taehyun motioned.

kai crossed his arms across his chest. "you will have to pry this off of my cold, dead body."

beomgyu pouted, "didn't you get taught that sharing is caring?"

"not when it comes to hoodies. it's every man for himself," kai deadpanned, staring beomgyu in the eye.

meanwhile, the older pair weren't even paying attention to the little squabble that had broken out; they were currently laughing and giggling together without a care, as it should have been from the start.

they knew now to communicate better, and that while certain steps seemed so cumbersome to go through, they were important, crucial to the success of their relationship.

in the end, both had matured quite a bit on their own. that was all they had for now, the promise that they would try, together. and that was okay.

—[ END. ]


End file.
